When I Need You
by LunaBeauty
Summary: Slowly, the sun began to peek through the trees, coloring the sky in brilliant hues of pink, orange, and soft blue. "That is the life I want to give you, my love. I want to fill your whole world with beautiful colors and warmth. That is the way I want our lives together to be." The sequel to "A Summer To Remember". Rated T for now, but it may change in the future. [Remus/OC]
1. Chapter 1: I Will Remember You

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* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **I Will Remember You**

 _ **September 1, 1993**_

Early that morning, in a small cottage nestled in the hills of Yorkshire, Remus Lupin closed the lid of his trunk, using his wand to lock it. In just a few short hours, he would board train and return to the place where he had locked away so many precious memories, Hogwarts. As he sat down on the poor excuse for his bed, he pulled a small photo album towards him and opened it. Inside were many pictures of him during his years at Hogwarts. Remus slowly flipped through the pages of the book. Everywhere his friends grinned up at him and waved. His light green eyes fell upon a group of pictures, which featured him with a beautiful girl who had deep stormy blue eyes. She had a look of innocence about her. He ran his hand across her fair cheek. For an instance, he thought he could feel the softness of her skin through the pictures, smell the sweet scent of her wild, curly brown hair, and taste the apricot kisses of her lips.

"Jessica," he breathed. Two teardrops fell onto the picture. He didn't realize that he was crying until he saw them. Quickly, he brushed the tears away. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there when you needed me the most."

Remus reached inside the small, clear plastic cover and pulled out one of the pictures of Jessica. It was a picture he had taken over their Christmas break in 1977. She smiled shyly, but her eyes twinkled with such love and affection for him as tiny snowflakes fell around her, lightly coating her hair in white. He slipped the picture into the inner pocket of his large brown coat that he wore, before standing up. with one last look around the small, dismal bedroom with its torn wallpaper and poor excuse for furniture, he stepped out of the cottage and into the cool September air.

* * *

 _ **September 1, 1977**_

Jessica's footsteps echoed off of the dark path as she ran, constantly glancing back as her pursuer drew closer and closer. She had to keep moving, she had to make it out of there, find help. Her heart pounded frantically with fear. Suddenly, she fell, landing on the cold ground. She couldn't move, and she tasted blood in her mouth. Everything suddenly went black as her pursuer attacked.

Her deep blue eyes snapped open and she sat up abruptly in her bed, looking around. It had only been a dream. Jessica slowly waited for the pounding of her heart to return to normal. Sunlight streamed through her sheer pale blue curtains, naturally lighting up the bedroom. She rubbed her eyes and fell back again, trying to figure out the dream. Usually, they were nonsensical, and half the time she couldn't remember them completely, but this one seemed much more real. Why would she dream such a thing? Her hand touched the hard leatherbound cover of a book, causing her to look down. Maybe she should stop staying up and reading until two in the morning. That had to be the reason for the dream. Of course, she didn't believe, for one second, that reading dictated what type of dreams one had.

Jessica peered at the alarm clock on her bedside table. It read 7:05. Why was she up so early? It was still summer, wasn't it? No. She glanced at the calender on the wall, squinting her eyes. It was opened to August, but each tiny square was crossed out with a red "X", indicating days that had passed. She slid out of the bed and walked over to it and flipped to the next page. Circled in red was the date, September first.

How could it have slipped her mind? She glanced at her trunk, which she had packed the night before. Soon, she would be able to see her friends again. Even though she had last spoken to them two days ago, it felt like a millenium to her. She wondered if Remus was thinking about her, Remus, her boyfriend. Jessica let out a small squeal as she fell back onto her bed, hugging her pillow to her chest. The feeling of giddiness never diminished, even after they had been going out for a little over a month, now.

"Jessica?" Her mother, from whom she'd inherited her magical blood from, peeked into the room. "I was just making sure you were awake. I'm fixing to prepare breakfast. Is there anything special you want?"

"Just the usual, Mum," Jessica smiled. "But if you can manage some blueberry pancakes, I'd really like that."

"Of course, sweetie. Are you all packed?" Jessica nodded. "That's good. Come down after you're ready."

After her mother closed the door, Jessica grabbed some clothes from her closet and went down the hall towards the only bathroom upstairs to take a shower. Once she was finished, she spent about twenty minutes trying to do something with her hair. She knew she should have taken the opportunity to buy that potion yesterday, while she was in Diagon Alley. Unfortunately, she had failed to, and now she was paying the price, as she couldn't get her hair to do anything. Finally, she gave up and resorted to her usual style, a simple plait draped over her left shoulder.

Jessica traipsed downstairs. The sweet scent of pancake batter filled her nostrils as she walked into the kitchen. Her mother stood in front of the stove, while her father sat at the table with his newspaper opened in front of him, and a steaming mug of coffee nearby.

"Morning, Daddy." She kissed his whiskery cheek.

"Good morning, Princess. You look beautiful today."

Jessica walked to the coffee pot to pour herself a cup of coffee and began to laden it with milk and heaping spoonfuls of sugar. "You say that everyday."

"It's true. You are the most beautiful girl in the world, next to your mother."

"Your father has always been quite the charmer," Mrs. Merton said as she magically flipped the stack of pancakes onto a large plate. "Sam, would you please bring Jessica's trunk downstairs? We'll leave after she eats."

"Sure thing." Mr. Merton folded his newspaper and stood. He affectionately tugged on Jessica's braid as he walked past her to go upstairs.

"Dad, can you also bring down the brown wicker basket, so I can put Paris inside?" Paris was her cat.

Once Jessica finished eating, she went into the living room where a white feline was snoozing on the back of one of the sofas. She meowed in protest as Jessica picked her up, but soon began to purr as her mistress scratched her beneath the chin. Her father had brought the trunk and wicker basket down. "All right, Paris, in you go." She set Jessica inside the basket, throwing in one of her toys as well. Paris yowled for a few minutes, then resigned herself to her fate, and fell quiet. Not long after, Jessica was in the backseat of her parents' car, on her way to Kings' Cross.

* * *

"Do you have everything you need, Remus?"

"Yes, Mum. Everything is present and accounted for." Remus shifted uncomfortably as his mother hugged him to her bosom and kissed the top of his thick light brown hair.

"Be sure to send an owl whenever you get the chance. We'll see you for Christmas."

"I will. It's too bad Dad couldn't be here to see me off."

"He couldn't miss work, but I know he'd much rather be here."

Remus smiled and leaned down the few necessary inches to kiss his mother on the cheek. "Don't worry about me, Mum. I'll be fine. I have my friends to watch out for me."

Making sure that no one was watching, he pushed his trolley towards the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 and passed through it towards Platform 9 3/4. The scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express loomed over him. Many students and their parents were hugging each other good-bye. (I assumed since Remus's mom is a muggle, she's unable to pass through the barrier.)

"Sirius, I told you, I'm not calling you My Sexy Man Beast." Remus recognized Sophia's voice. She was standing next to Sirius, not too far away. Sirius seemed to sense that Remus was watching him and looked up, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ah, now there is a real sexy man beast!" he boomed. "We were wondering when you were going to get here!"

Remus allowed Sirius to give him a hearty hug, before he turned and hugged Sophia. Although, he'd much rather be hugging a smaller, more fair body that smelled of peaches and apricots. "Is anyone else here, yet?"

"James and Lily had to board the train already," Sirius replied. "I still can't believe James made Head Boy."

Remus couldn't believe it either. It was strange that Dumbledore had given him such a responsibility. Especially when he had never been prefect. While Remus was happy for James, in the back of his mind, there was a small dose of jealousy. But he would never admit to it. "What about Jessica and Peter?"

As if by magic, Peter appeared. "I'm here," he said breathlessly. "It's so crowded here that I almost didn't find you guys."

"Just look for the best looking group here," Sirius teased.

Sophia rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs lightly. Remus checked his watch and saw that it was 10:50. He began to nervously bite down on lip as his eyes scanned the platform.

"Hey, mate, I'm sure she'll be here," Sirius said reassuringly. "Wait, isn't that her over there?"

Remus's eyes followed Sirius' finger. Sure enough, he saw Jessica next to the barrier, saying good-bye to her mother. His entire face lit up as she hugged her mother, then wheeled her trunk in the direction of the train. Sirius gave him a light shove. "Go get her, tiger," he winked.

He pushed his way through the sea of people, closer to Jessica, who had her back turned and seemed to be looking around. Quietly, he snuck up on her and encircled her waist, lifting her off the ground slightly as he embraced her. She squealed in delight and turned around after he set her down, and threw her arms around his neck.

"Remus, you scared me," she chastised playfully, leaning up onto the tips of her toes for a kiss.

Remus' sighed blissfully as his hands slid around her waist and her fingers dug into his hair. He could kiss her all day. Too soon, however, they both pulled away. Neither of them felt too comfortable about public displays of affection. He offered to take her trunk, and wheeled it towards the train. After some small talk with Sirius, Sophia, and Peter, it was time for the five of them to board the train. Jessica took her trunk back so that Remus could handle his. They found a compartment, and, while is was a tight fit, they managed to squeeze in with Sophia sitting on Sirius' lap and Remus and Jessica sitting next to each other on the other side, with Peter sitting in the same seat. Not long after they had made themselves comfortable, the train began to slowly make its way out of the station and started on its journey to Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2: James Potter Fan Club

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* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **James Potter Fan Club**

Jessica read for about twenty minutes after the train began its journey. Her legs were draped across Remus' lap, and her back was propped against the cool glass window that looked out at the scenery, which passed them by. As she turned the page to chapter ten, the compartment door slid open, and Lily and James walked in. It was a tight fit as they squeezed in next to Sirius and Sophia.

"You're back so soon?" Sirius' eyes twinkled impishly as he grinned at the Head Boy and Head Girl.

"We don't really have to do much," Lily said as she began passing around Chocolate Frogs, which she had gotten from the Trolley Lady. "All we have to do is patrol every twenty or so minutes, and make sure that no one is breaking any rules."

"You didn't happen to see Snivellus anywhere, did you?" Peter unwrapped his chocolate frog and bit the head off.

James sighed, feigning disappointment. "Sadly, no. We saw no sign of Snivelly."

"I wish you guys would just try and ignore him," Lily said disapprovingly, folding her arms across her chest.

"It's kind of hard to ignore him when he's constantly taking the opportunity to try and attack us behind our backs," Remus chimed in, looking up from his book.

Lily turned to Jessica. "What do you think, Jess? You've been pretty quiet."

Jessica lowered her book onto her lap and looked up at them. She hated it when she was asked to choose sides. Couldn't they see that she would rather stay out of it? But James, Sirius and Lily all seemed to be waiting for her input, so she sighed. "Well, while I agree that it would be best to ignore Snive-I mean Snape, we can't just sit around and do nothing each time he tries to hex one of us. We should be allowed to defend ourselves. I mean, if he aims a curse at you, then sure, fighting back is mandatory. But if he happens to call Sirius a washed up womanizing has been, no offense, Sirius, then it's probably best to ignore him."

"That has to be the worst insult, ever, Jessica," Sirius teased.

Jessica lifted her book again. "Yes, well, I don't exactly make it my life mission coming up with insults."

James and Lily soon left the compartment once again to go on another patrol. By that time, Jessica's cat, Paris, grew tired of being confined into her basket and yowled from underneath the seat, demanding to be let out. Jessica obliged her, and soon the fluffy white feline was curled up in Remus' lap.

"I'm going to go change," Jessica said as she stood up and stepped past the others to go into the miniscule girls' lavatory, carrying her robes and uniform with her. After bumping against the toilet and the sink a few times, she'd managed to get dressed. As she came out of the lavatory, carrying her casuals, someone barreled into her, nearly causing her to fall over. Jessica caught a glimpse of gleaming dark brown hair and the yellow hem of Hufflepuff robes, the same as hers. When Jessica was finally released, she found herself looking up into the dark eyes of Dorcas Meadowes.

"I missed you! Why didn't you write to me over the summer?" Dorcas pretended to pout. "You have no idea how bored I was."

Jessica smoothed down her skirt. "I actually spent my summer at the beach, and had no way to get an Owl to you."

"You went to the beach this summer and you didn't invite me?" Dorcas frowned.

"Sophia is the one who invited me. I didn't really think about writing anyone. I'm sorry."

Dorcas grinned from ear to ear and pulled Jessica in for another hug. "Oh, you're just the cutest thing, ever! I can't stay mad at you!"

Nestled in the confines of her fondness of Dorcas, Jessica had to admit there was a tiny bit of envy. Dorcas seemed to always be carefree. She almost always had a smile on her face, and she had an aura of confidence that Jessica wished that she herself possessed.

Jessica pulled away, feeling uncomfortable as Dorcas gushed over her. Instead, she did allow her friend to loop her arm through hers as the two of them made their way back to the compartment. Somewhere down the narrow corridor, the two of them spotted Marlene McKinnon, who seemed to be handing out fliers.

"Hey, Dorcas, Jessica! Would you like to join?" Marlene waved the flier in front of their faces. Jessica had to back away a few steps to be able to read.

"A James Potter Fan Club? Er...sounds interesting."

Marlene pressed a flier into each of their hands. "You're friends with James," she directed at Jessica. "Do you think you could persuade him to speak at our first meeting about his experiences and success?"

Jessica rubbed the back of her neck. "Er...I don't know. I mean, he'll probably be busy with Quidditch, his classes, Head Boy duties. Not to mention, he kind of has a girlfriend."

Marlene's elated expression fell. "A girlfriend? When did this happen?"

"Over the summer. Lily and him got together."

"Yes, so don't even think about trying to ruin it," Dorcas threatened.

Jessica grabbed Dorcas by the arm and pulled her away before the scene could turn violent. "I don't know why you do that," she said.

"I don't like her, Jessica. She's practically been obsessed with James since fourth year. I doubt the fact that he's going out with Lily now will deter her. You know she's not above wrecking a relationship just to get what she wants. Look at what happened to Trevor and Sydney during sixth year."

"I try to avoid that sort of drama," Jessica muttered.

"You avoid a lot of things. You really need to stop hiding in that shell you've built around yourself."

"I'm not hiding in a shell!" Jessica cried indignantly, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I just think that there are more important things to worry about."

* * *

"Bahahahahahaha! Are you serious?" Sirius snatched the flier from Jessica and looked at it. "This is too great!"

James rolled his eyes. "I'm glad you're having fun with this."

"As if James didn't have a big enough ego already," Sophia teased.

"I'll have you know that my ego has deflated quite a bit." James pretended to be insulted.

Jessica stepped over Sirius's outstretched legs and sat down next to Remus. He'd been mostly quiet during the trip, choosing to read the book that Jessica had suggested to them on their vacation, The Catcher in the Rye. He, along with everyone else, had already changed into their robes. "I'm actually surprised Marlene didn't start a fanclub much sooner."

"Right?" Dorcas agreed as she leaned against the entrance of the compartment, since there wasn't really any room for her to sit. "She even seemed eager to have you speak at their first meeting."

Lily scowled. "I really don't think that's going to happen. James is going to be busy with other things, aren't you?"

"Huh? Oh...sure. Maybe a few years ago I might have been into it, but now it seems kind of immature."

"Says the guy who tacked up immature pictures of Snape in his skivvies all over the corridors last year," Remus said, his lips twitching in amusement.

James folded his arms across his chest and grinned smugly as he sat back in his seat. "It's too bad we didn't think of putting a Permanent Sticking Charm on them."

"But was it really worth the month's worth of detention that McGonagall gave you?" Jessica asked as she lightly rubbed her cat's stomach.

Sirius gave her a look. "It's always worth it when Snivelly is involved."

* * *

The hours passed by quickly. Soon, the train began to slow down and pulled into the Hogsmeade Station where Hagrid was waiting, waving his large lantern.

"Firs' Years this way!" he called. Remus stepped off of the train and helped Jessica down as well. "All right there, you two?"

"Hi, Hagrid." Jessica smiled. She had always liked Hagrid. Ever since she was a first year, he always invited her over for a bit of tea and hardened biscuits. While his cooking skills were questionable, she admired his love for animals, despite the fact that they were often dangerous. "How's Cinnamon?"

Cinnamon was a female hippogriff that Jessica had started helping Hagrid take care of in her third year.

"She's all righ'. Jus' gave birth." Hagrid sounded so proud. "A spry little thing if I do say so meself. I'll see ya Friday?"

Jessica nodded and walked towards one of the carriages with the others. "I was hoping we could spend the day together, Friday," Remus said sounding a little disappointed.

"You can come with me, you know. I could use a little bit of your help."

He leaned forward to kiss her. Just as he did, Sirius climbed into the carriage with Sophia. "Why do you guys act like that whenever I'm around?"

Remus and Jessica looked at each other in bewilderment. "Like what?" Remus asked. "We're not doing anything."

"It's the way you're looking at each other, all lovey dovey. It's kind of gross."

"Don't you snog anything with a pair of boobs and nice legs?" Sophia reminded him. "You kind of have no room to talk."

Sirius and Sophia launched into an argument, and Jessica turned away, slightly embarrassed. She wished that Sirius wouldn't make such a big deal about Remus and her kissing. She felt awkward enough kissing him in front of others. The turrets of the school soon came into view. Jessica soon forgot her discomfort. She could almost smell the food, and hoped that the sorting wouldn't take too long. The Chocolate Frogs she'd eaten had seemed so long ago. The carriages soon came to a stop and they stepped out of it, and were met by James, Lily, Peter, and Dorcas who had ridden in another carriage. Together, they stepped inside the Entrance Hall.


	3. Chapter 3: Impending Danger

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* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Impending Danger**

After the last first year was sorted into one of the four Houses, Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment and carried the Sorting Hat away. Jessica was glad too. All throughout the sorting, her stomach was protesting, and she was sure that the entire Hufflepuff table could hear it. Dumbledore stood from his seat at the High Table.

"Let the feast begin," Right after he said those words, food magically filled the five tables.

Dorcas and Jessica began to eagerly fill their plates with food. "Hey, Merton, did you gain more weight this summer?" Evan Rosier sneered at her from the Slytherin table.

"Sod off, Rosier," Dorcas hissed. "She looks a hell of a lot better than you do." She put a comforting arm around Jessica's shoulders. "Don't let that prat get to you."

Jessica sprinkled salt onto her food. "He doesn't bother me." Yet, she was lying. As much as she tried not to let the things that the Slytherins said affect her, they did. She didn't have a strong backbone like her other friends, who could take an insult and dish it back just as easily. She quietly began to eat. Despite Evan insulting her, it did not deter her appetite. As she shoveled rice and gravy into her mouth, she had her book open and was reading it, making sure not to spill any food on the pages.

"How can you eat and read at the same time?" Dorcas grabbed a hot roll from one of the platters.

"Hm?" Jessica looked up from her book. "Oh...I don't know."

Dorcas shook her head. "I think you need another hobby. Why not try out for the Quidditch Team?"

Jessica snorted. "Oh sure, and then I'll graduate Hogwarts and go on to become Minister of Magic." Everyone knew that Jessica was rubbish at flying. Not to mention she had a big fear of heights, and even became nauseous when she was in the Astronomy Tower.

* * *

The feast began to slowly wind down, and Dumbledore stood up once again. "Now that we are all blissfully bursting at the seams, I have a few start of term announcements that I would like to address."

A fifth year leaned across Remus to whisper to James. "Hey, Potter, when's the first practice of the season?"

"There will be a practice session on Friday afternoon around two," James replied as Dumbledore warned the students not to go into the Forbidden Forest, mostly for the first years' benefit, as well as made a few other announcements, which they had all heard before. However, the next words he spoke caused a somber atmosphere to fall among the Houses.

"I'm sure that many of you have heard many rumors floating around about a certain Dark Wizard who is slowly rising to power and gaining many followers. These rumors are very true. You see, I once taught this man, who came to this school when he was eleven as bright-eyed and curious as all you first years are now. Over the years, I noticed that he had grown particularly gifted. But he wasn't satisfied, he wanted more than that. He soon began to gain followers, which he christened his Death Eaters. They all had an idea that only the purest of wizard blood was worthy and sought to purge the wizarding world of those who were not. I'm talking, of course, about Voldemort."

The reactions were different. Some students gasped, others cringed upon hearing his name spoken, then there were some who merely stared at Dumbledore with solemn expressions. "Now, while Hogwarts is known as the safest place for any young witch or wizard, I urge you all to remain cautious, for there is a possibility that Voldemort could have many followers within these very walls. But you must not despair. For allies often come in even greater numbers, so keep your friends very close."

"I think I have a pretty good idea as to who some of these followers might be," Sirius muttered.

Dumbledore's words made Remus think of Jessica. He silently made a vow to always watch over her. Glancing over at the Hufflepuff table, he caught a glimpse of her. Her eyes were wide with fear. An overwhelming urge to do everything he could to protect her washed over him. After the announcements, they sang the school song, then Dumbledore sent them off to bed.

"Well, that was a very depressing way to end the feast," Sophia said as she stood up. "It makes you wonder how powerful He really is."

"From what I heard, there aren't many witches and wizards who are willing to go up against him," Lily said.

"Hi, James!" Marlene stepped in front of them blocking their path.

James shifted uncomfortably. "Er...hi, Marlene. How was your summer?"

"It was great! Although, it would have been better if you had been there." She placed her hand on his arm. "So, I take it you've heard the news of the club I'm starting in your honor? A few people already agreed to join on the train. What do you say? Will you speak at our first meeting?"

Lily stepped forward and pulled James away from Marlene. "I'm sorry to say that James will be very busy over the next few months. Perhaps you should find some other bloke to fawn over, preferrably one who isn't already spoken for?"

"You tell her, Lily!" Sophia clapped loudly in approval.

Remus began to leave the group. "I'll meet you guys in the common room." He made his way over to Jessica and Dorcas. "Mind if I walk you two girls back to your common room?"

"Actually, I have to go speak to Amos about something. I'll be right back." Dorcas winked at Jessica. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Well she's just the epitomy of subtly," Jessica muttered as she blushed.

Remus chuckled and took hold of her hand and began to walk with her down to the Hufflepuff basement. "Are you okay, Jessica? You seemed a little shaken up when Dumbledore was talking about Voldemort."

Jessica smiled, but Remus could tell that it was forced. "I'm fine. After all, Hogwarts is the safest place for anyone to be. Why should I be worried?"

Remus stopped walking and took both of her hands in his. "Jessica, you don't have to hide how you're really feeling from me. I can see it in your eyes. You're scared."

"Please don't, Remus. I promise, I'll be all right." She smiled up at him. "Besides, it's you I'm more worried about. If Voldemort is recruiting Death Eaters, there could be a possibility that he's recruiting werewolves as well. I mean, I don't know, but they seem like something he'd like to have on his side."

Remus pulled her into his arms. "Don't worry about me. There is no way I would ever do such a thing. Please try not to stress over it too much. You're much too beautiful." He lifted her chin and gently pressed his lips to hers, before holding her for a few moments. "I promise, everything will work out."

The two of them began walking again, and soon reached the entrance to the Hufflepuff dormitories. Remus kissed her once more, wishing he didn't have to leave her. After a longing glance at her, he began to make the long trek up to the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

Jessica tapped on the barrels and gained access to the common room. She crawled through the small hole and was greeted with the warmth of a roaring fire, and the comforting allure of many plush chairs and sofas. Paris was curled up on the back of one of them, sleeping soundly. Jessica picked her up and carried her through one of the long winding tunnels and into the girls' seventh year dormitory. A few of her fellow Hufflepuffs were already there getting ready for bed. Jessica set the white feline on her bed and dug through her trunk for her pajamas and her diary.

Once she was changed, she sat in the bed, holding the diary in her lap, and gently ran her hand over the clasp and muttered something. The diary slid open and opened to a fresh new page where Jessica began writing. She wrote for about ten minutes before Dorcas came in. Jessica closed the diary, magically sealing it again, and stuffed it inside the pillowcase.

"Hi, Paris." Dorcas greeted Jessica's cat, who lifted her head and meowed before going back to sleep.

"What did you talk to Amos about?" Jessica asked as she unbraided her hair, wincing as she snagged a few tangles.

Dorcas sat down on the bed and began to help Jessica. "I asked him if he wanted to practice throwing around the Quaffle with me on Wednesday evening after dinner." Both Dorcas and Amos were Chasers for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. "Are you sure you won't try out? We could use another Chaser spot, or you could try out for Keeper."

"I'm perfectly fine with cheering my fellow Hufflepuffs from the stands."

"Please, at least try out. If you're rubbish, none of us will hold it against you," Dorcas begged clutching Jessica's hands.

Jessica sighed. "Fine, but I don't have a broom."

"I can just borrow one of the school brooms," Dorcas said happily as she plopped down onto her bed.

Jessica slumped back onto her pillow. "Yippee for me," she muttered unenthusiastically. She couldn't believe she'd been persuaded to make a fool of herself in front of everyone. "Well, it couldn't hurt, I guess."

Dorcas hugged Jessica. "That's the spirit!" She hopped off the bed and began to change into her pajamas. Jessica flicked her wand and summoned a small notebook from her trunk, which held different schedules. She made a note of the Quidditch tryouts in it, then wrote down some other stuff before sending it back to the trunk and closing it. She then crawled underneath the covers, bid good night to Dorcas, slid underneath the covers, and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Constant Vigilance

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* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **Constant Vigilance**

By Wednesday, Jessica's stress levels had reached a new record. With each class, she received piles of homework. It also didn't help that the papers she had to write had already started cutting into her quality time with Remus. The only time she saw him was during Herbology and Charms, but Professors Sprout and Flitwick had kept the class so busy that they rarely found time to socialize. The same could be said for the rest of her friends, as well. Sophia had joked that they might have to start a protest regarding the amount of homework they were receiving. Jessica was inclined to agree with her.

That evening, after dinner, Jessica was in the library. Sitting across from her was a first year girl by the name of Sarah Morgan. She had her book, A Beginner's Guide To Transfiguration, open and a piece of parchment next to it.

"Do you understand now?" Jessica asked kindly. Every Wednesday evening, Jessica would tutor a student, in Transfiguration mostly, but she sometimes also tutored them in other subjects. Transfiguration was known to be her specialty, however.

"I think so," the red headed first year replied. "But why does this have to be so hard?"

Jessica smiled understandingly. "I said the same thing as you when I first started out. Transfiguration is a very precise form of magic. It's the oppostie of Charms, which allows a much wider margin for more personal creativity."

"That's for sure," Sarah muttered. "Do you think I could come back again next Wednesday?"

"I don't see any problems with it." Jessica reached into her book bag and pulled out her black planner. "Let's see, I don't have anyone else to tutor between now and next Wednesday, so I'll just make a note." Once she was finished, she put the planner back into her bag and closed it. "If you have any questions between now and our next session, feel free to come to me."

Sarah thanked Jessica and ran out of the library, most likely to go meet with her friends. Jessica checked her watch and saw that she still had about two more hours until she was due for Astronomy. She picked up her bookbag and began to leave the library in hopes of finding Remus so that the two of them could, perhaps, go for a walk together.

"Merton." A cold, and very familiar voice caused Jessica to stop in her tracks and turn around to find herself face to face with Snape.

"Snape." She tried to imitate his cold tone, but the slight trembling in her voice betrayed her emotions.

"Tutoring first years, as usual, I see. Do you really think they'll benefit from your teachings?" he sneered. "Who do you think you're kidding? You'll never be as gifted as some of the other students in this school."

This wasn't the first time that Snape had tried to break Jessica's spirits by telling her that she would never amount to nothing. It certainly wouldn't be the last, either. Jessica held her head up high. "Maybe I'll never be as gifted, but at least I don't look down upon others just because they're not a pureblood."

"They are the only ones who can be considered worthy. Too bad your blood traitor of a mother couldn't see that when she married your Muggle father." (He knows that her mother is a pureblood, but obviously doesn't know that they are actually related, yet.)

Jessica gripped her wand tightly in her left hand. The fact that Snape had insulted her parents infuriated her. "I don't know why I'm listening to you. You're not worth my time. You know, I actually feel sorry for you. You're clearly not happy, and that makes you lash out at others you consider much weaker. I don't have time to sit here and listen to your insults." With those words, she turned and began walking out of the library.

"You filthy half-breed." Snape aimed his wand at her and shot a Stunning Spell at her retreating back. However, the magical barrier of a Shield Charm blocked it just inches from Jessica.

"I despise those who attack while an opponent's back is turned. It only further proves their cowardice," growled an unfamiliar voice.

Jessica turned around. Standing between Snape and her was a much older man who she had never seen before. "I suggest you get moving, or else I might not be so forgiving next time."

Snape seemed to sense something dangerous in this man, for he lowered his wand, glared at Jessica, then stormed past the two of them. The man then turned around, and Jessica gasped. His face was heavily scarred, a sign of someone who knew danger very well. But that wasn't what shocked her. It was his eyes. One was a very dull brown, but the other was a bright electric blue and seemed to swivel around on its own, as if it was alive.

"You should never turn your back on an enemy. You can't expect someone to always come around and save you. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! That's what you must always remember."

Jessica could only stare after him as he turned and left the library, going in the opposite direction of Snape. She had no idea what it was all about. Why was he here in the first place? He couldn't have been a new teacher, for she had failed to notice him at the start of term feast. Yet, from the brisk manner in which he had walked out of the library, he seemed to be in the school on important business. Brushing off her guesses on who he could be, Jessica left to go look for Remus.

* * *

That next evening, Remus, James, Sirius, Peter, Lily, and Sophia were on their way to the Quidditch Pitch. James had wanted to watch the Hufflepuff tryouts, and had managed to talk the others into going with him.

"I really need to complete my Potions essay," Lily muttered. "Remus, don't you have a Charms Essay to finish?"

"I already finished it," Remus said. He had wanted to look for Jessica and see if she wanted to join them in the stands, but James had practically dragged him out of the common room.

James sat down in the stands and the others followed suit. "I'm just curious to see who makes the Hufflepuff team this year."

"I'm sure they won't be much of a challenge," Sirius chimed in. "We've never lost a match against them."

"Hey, what's Jessica doing out on the field?" Sophia's voice caused Remus to look up from his book. Sure enough, Jessica was standing with those eager to try out.

"She's never been on a broomstick since our first year flying lessons. What's going through her mind?" James said in a low voice.

Remus stood up. "I'm going to go ask her." But Sirius pulled him back down. "Sit down, maybe there is a chance that she'll surprise us."

Remus glared at Sirius, but reluctantly lowered himself onto the seat again and watched, a sickening feeling in his chest.

* * *

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Jessica muttered to Dorcas as she picked off a strand of hair from her grey and purple striped jumper.

"Oh, stop worrying too much. You're only trying out for Keeper. All you have to do is make sure that no one gets the Quaffle through one of hoops. There's nothing fancy involved in that."

Amos put a reassuring hand on Jessica's shoulder. "Just relax and take a deep breath. You'll do fine."

Jessica looked up at the goal posts. Just the thought of her being up there made her blood run cold, and gave her the urge to vomit. Luckily, she was the last one in line of those who were trying out for the Keeper Position. She watched as Dorcas and Amos soared confidently into the air on their sleek broomsticks. The two of them took turns throwing the Quaffle at the aspiring Keepers. Two of the Keepers seemed to be very skilled, blocking nearly all of the shots. The other two only blocked one or two a piece while trying to stay on their broomsticks. Jessica took a deep breath. She had a feeling that this would go very badly, and part of her wanted to turn around and walk off of the Quidditch Pitch, but another part of her wanted to at least try her hand. She would never learn to let go of her fears unless she faced them head on.

"All right, Merton, you're up!" Jessica jumped, forgetting for a moment why she was on the Quidditch Pitch. She heard cheering coming from the stands and turned to see that her friends had come to watch the tryouts. Her eyes fell upon Remus who seemed to be smiling encouragingly. Jessica took a deep breath and mounted her broomstick and soared towards the the left goalposts. Her heart pounded in her ears, and she began to slowly feel nauseous. What was she doing up here? She looked down, and the ground swam before her eyes as a loud ringing began in her ears. She thought she saw a glimpse of the Quaffle through her blurred vision as she blacked out, unable to hold onto her broomstick, she slipped off and plummeted to the ground.


	5. Chapter 5: Romance In The Kitchen

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* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Romance in the Kitchen**

"This is all my fault."

"Would you stop saying that, Dorcas? She knew that she was afraid of heights. It's not like you forced her to get onto the broom."

"But I begged her to do it!"

"The important thing is that she's all right. It's a good thing that Remus managed to slow down her fall. She doesn't have any broken bones."

"Hey, I think she's waking up!"

The voices, which swam around chaotically in Jessica's head, soon became clearer as she slowly opened her eyes, and found herself looking up at a wide number of faces. Before she could speak, she was crushed instantly in a hug.

"I'm so, so sorry I made you do this!" Dorcas wailed.

Jessica reached around to pat her friend on the back. "I forgive you, but can you please let go? I can't breathe," she wheezed.

Dorcas loosened her grip. "Sorry."

"It's all right." Jessica sat up slightly. "How long have I been out?"

Remus leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. "Not too long, only about twenty minutes. How are you feeling?"

"Well, considering I fell a thousand feet through the air, I think I'm doing all right."

James laughed. "The hoops aren't even close to that. But since you're not exactly used to flying, I guess they would seem about that high."

"I don't think I'll be getting back on a broomstick for a while," Jessica muttered, slumping back against her fluffed pillow. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that I didn't make the team. So, who did Wallanby choose?"

Dorcas and Amos looked at each other, before Amos spoke up. "He er...decided on that Jackson bloke for Chaser, and Hale for Keeper."

Jessica felt an overwhelming sense of relief. For a brief moment, she feared that the Captain might have taken pity on her and put her on the team just because she was friends with Dorcas and Amos.

"Well, at least Snape and his posse weren't there to watch me make a fool of myself."

"Trust me, if they had laughed at you, we would have taken care of it," Sirius said dangerously.

"No you wouldn't have," Lily scolded. "That's something he would expect you to do, just to get you into trouble."

"Come off it, Evans. Snivellus is a git, who deserves every bit of trouble we give him."

"But you guys are always looking for reasons to pick on him! I mean, just yesterday you bewitched those erasers to chase him around and beat him over the head for a solid half hour!"

Sirius opened his mouth to argue, but Sophia chimed in. "Look, let's just leave it at 'Snape is a greasy-haired git' and be done with it." She patted Jessica's hand. "I'm glad to see you're all right. Come on, Sirius. Let's go finish that Goblin Rights essay."

She led Sirius away by the wrist, despite his protests. After they walked out of the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey approached. "That's enough. I allowed you all to stand over Miss Merton until she woke up. Now, I need you all to leave so that she can get some rest."

"I feel fine, Madame Pomfrey," Jessica said. "Can I please go?"

Madame Pomfrey assessed the young Hufflepuff for a moment before reaching into the pocket of her apron and pulling out a wrapped chocolate frog. "Be sure to eat this, and then you can leave."

James clapped Remus on the shoulder after Madame Pomfrey left. "We'll meet you in the common room a little later, mate." He left with Lily and Peter. Dorcas and Amos left afterwards as well, to go visit the library.

"Right," Jessica said, throwing the thin pale green blanket off her legs. "Let's get out of here."

Remus gently put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Not so fast. You sit there and eat that chocolate, young lady," he scolded teasingly.

Jessica grimaced. "Fine." She unwrapped the chocolate frog and stuffed the whole thing into her mouth. "Now, can we go?" she asked with her mouth full.

Remus helped her up and, holding onto her hand, walked with her out of the Hospital Wing. Jessica managed to swallow the frog. "What were you doing trying out for the Quidditch Team, by the way?"

"I honestly don't know what I was thinking. I thought that maybe, once I was up there, near the goalposts, it wouldn't be so bad. But then I saw the ground and everything sort of became blurry. Who stopped me from breaking my neck, by the way?"

"I did," Remus replied. "I just slowed down your fall."

Jessica bit down on her bottom lip shyly and smiled. "Thanks for catching me."

Remus leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "You know I'll always be there to catch you."

"Or just press the slow motion button," Jessica said teasingly.

He lightly tickled her side, causing her to giggle. "Okay, Miss Smarty Pants. Anyways, the rest of the Marauders and I are going to sneak into the kitchens tonight. Do you want to come with us?"

"The kitchens? Couldn't you get caught for doing something like that?"

Remus shrugged. "We haven't gotten caught, yet, and we've been doing it for a few years now."

"Oh, right, James has that Invisibility Cloak. I don't know..." she trailed off uncertainly.

"You don't have to go, but the House Elves make a mean cup of hot chocolate."

Jessica perked up. "Did you say Hot Chocolate?"

* * *

Remus crawled through the portrait hole that led into the Gryffindor common room. James was playing round with the Snitch that he almost always carried around, while Lily had her head resting in his lap and was reading The Great Goblin Battle Of Urzog.

"Hey, Moony," Sirius said from his place on the floor near the fireplace, where Sophia and he were working on their Goblin Rights essay. Remus sat down in one of the red and gold patterned chairs.

Remus said hello to Sirius, then turned to James. "You don't mind if Jessica comes with us to the kitchens tonight, do you?"

James caught the Snitch for a third time, then lowered it. "She actually agreed to come with us? What did you do, bribe her?"

Remus scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I might have promised her a steaming mug of hot chocolate if she came with us."

"Honestly, Remus, have you no shame?" Sophia asked impishly. "You know the poor girl can't resist the temptation of anything chocolate."

Sirius smirked. "See, Moony, this is why you should let us cover you in chocolate syrup. Then Jessica wouldn't be able to keep her hands...and tongue off of you."

Remus' face immediately grew warm. Images of Jessica's soft body pressed against him provocatively as she licked the sweet milk chocolate off of him swam through his mind. He shook his head and mentally scolded himself for having such thoughts. Just the thought of seeing Jessica without a stitch of clothing on made him nervous. To this day, he still hadn't even appeared shirtless in front of her, fearing the reaction she would have if she saw his scars.

Lily set her book down and sat up. "How are the five of you going to fit underneath the cloak? Isn't it hard enough with just four?"

James put the Snitch back into the pocket of his robes. "Lily has a point. It might be hard with five. Tell you what, Moony, why don't I let you borrow the cloak tonight, and Jessica and you can go. It'll give the two of you a chance to spend some time together."

"Well, along with about twenty or thirty house-elves," Sirius pointed out.

"They'll disappear if Remus and Jessica tell them to," Sophia said as she rolled up her parchment.

Remus thought for a few moments before smiling. "Sure, I think Jessica might prefer it if it was just the two of us."

* * *

That night, around midnight, Remus stood underneath the Invisibility Cloak, holding the Marauders Map as he slowly slowly stepped through the portrait hole. The Fat Lady snoozed behind him as he tapped the map with his wand and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Once the lines completely filled the map, he perused the locations of the teachers who were patrolling that night. Once he had found a safe route, he tapped it and said, "Mischief Managed," before beginning to make his way down the many staircases and towards the Hufflepuff basement, which was also near the kitchens. As he neared the barrels, they opened, and Jessica stepped out, looking around.

"Psst, Jessica," he whispered.

Jessica jumped slightly. "Damnit, Peeves," she muttered. "Go away."

Remus chuckled and lowered the hood of the cloak, revealing his head. "Really? You think I sound like Peeves?"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot about the Invisibility Cloak. Where are the others?"

"They decided not to come. It would have been hard with five of us under here. So, it's just you and me tonight." Remus enjoyed seeing Jessica's entire face light up as she got underneath the cloak with him. Once they were near the painting of the fruit, Remus reached out to tickle the pear and the two of them stepped inside once the painting swung open.

Remus pulled the cloak off and stuffed it into his robes. Immediately, they were greeted by a swarm of small house-elves in small

"Mr. Lupin, such an honor it is to see you again," one of the elves squeaked. "Your friends are not with you?"

Remus shook his head. "They chose not to come tonight, but this is Jessica Merton."

The house-elves bowed low in unison. "Would the Miss like a cup of hot chocolate?" a particularly fat female house-elf squeaked.

Jessica smiled. "That would be nice, thank you."

The two were led further into the kitchen where a fire had already been lit. "It smells so good in here," Jessica said as she inhaled deeply.

"That's pretty much why we come here almost every night." Remus led her to one of the long tables. Two house-elves appeared with two mugs of hot chocolate with marshmellows floating in the steaming liquid and a plate of cookies. Jessica took a small sip, practically moaning in pleasure at the heavenly taste.

"It's good, isn't it?" Remus asked with a smile as he bit into a cookie.

"It's absolutely divine! I thought my mum was the only one who could make hot chocolate this delicious."

* * *

Jessica was glad that she had agreed to this. She had no idea that house-elves could be so warm and inviting. Soon, she and Remus found themselves sitting on small round poufs near the fireplace. Jessica rested her head against Remus' shoulder and played with his long skinny fingers as they stared into the flames.

"This is actually really perfect, isn't it?" she asked, closing her eyes blissfully as he wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her with his warmth.

"Being able to do this kind of thing with you no matter where we are is more than perfect." Remus kissed her temple.

Jessica looked up into his pale green eyes and smiled as he lowered his lips onto hers. She shifted to make herself more comfortable. Remus cupped her cheek while their tongues danced together. His other hand remained at her side at first, but then slowly slipped underneath her jumper to caress her skin. Jessica sighed softly as she dug her fingers into his thick hair, pulling at it gently and causing him to breathe shakily as his hand began to move upwards. However, once he touched the soft lace of her bra, he stopped and pulled his hand out from under her shirt.

"I'm sorry," he said breathing rather heavily. "I really shouldn't be moving so fast."

Jessica blushed and nervously began playing with the ends of her curls. "I don't think you were moving too fast."

"You just don't understand what you do to me, Jessica," he groaned. A brief glance in between his legs told her exactly what he was talking about. "I find myself wanting you too much, sometimes."

Jessica bit her lip as her hair fell like a curtain across her shoulders. "I-I sort of understand how you feel," she said, reaching out to put her hand over his. "But...I think we'll know when the time is right for...that." She had never felt comfortable discussing sexuality, but because she did have a boyfriend, it was bound to come up sooner or later."

Remus smiled and lightly kissed her hand, before helping her stand. "We should probably get back."

Jessica nodded, and they left the kitchen with the cloak thrown over them. Remus walked her to her common room, kissing her good night, before he turned and began making the long trek back to Gryffindor Tower. Jessica stared after him longingly before knocking on the barrels in rhythm and gaining access. Once inside, she tiptoed towards the seventh year girls' dormitory and quickly changed. She moved Paris off of her pillow before crawling into bed and falling asleep as her head filled with dreams of Remus.


	6. Chapter 6: Penelope

__.

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **Penelope**

On the third Friday in September, during a fifteen minute break, Jessica found herself in the library with Remus, Sirius, and Sophia poring over large volumes of books. Sirius and Sophia were working together on a Charms essay, while Remus was attempting to help Jessica with her Potions essay. Jessica, however, found herself getting frustrated with herself and Remus.

"I just don't get it. I think I'm going to go to Slughorn and tell him I'm dropping out of the class," she said slamming the book closed and pushing it back in disgust.

Remus calmly slid the back towards her and opened it again. "You're not dropping out of the class just because you're struggling a bit. Now, come on, the answers are all here."

Jessica leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. "It's making my brain hurt. Can I please just stop for now?"

Sirius paused from his writing and looked up. "You're kidding, right? You're going to use the "my brain hurts" excuse to get out of writing this essay? I finished it yesterday. It's way too easy."

Jessica bit down on her tongue before she said something that she regretted to Sirius. "I'm just not as good at this stuff as you guys," she muttered dejectedly.

"Oh, would you stop?" Sophia snapped. "You're as good as you allow yourself to be. Your problem is that you always want to throw in a towel whenever something presents itself as a challenge. A perfect example would be the Potions Essay. You say you want to try, but all I see you doing is whining."

Jessica opened her mouth to say something, but closed it immediately. To say that she was shocked by Sophia's words would be an understatement. They had been good friends since their first year, but Sophia had never spoken to her this way, until now. Deep down inside the darkest crevices of her mind, Jessica felt a small drop of resentment towards her. But it was hidden behind her desire to avoid confrontation. Jessica wondered if Sophia had been holding her tongue for so long that it just built up until she couldn't hold back any longer?

* * *

While Remus was not one to take sides, especially when they involved his girlfriend and his friends, he couldn't help, but agree with Sophia. As long as he had known Jessica, she always had a knack for wanting to run away whenever something became too hard for her. Unfortuantely, the break ended soon after that. Jessica headed to Care of Magical Creatures, but the three Gryffindors had a spare period, so they remained in the library.

"I didn't mean to snap at her," Sophia said as she closed the book she was using to help with her essay. "I've just been holding back for years, now. You just don't understand what it's like to hear her complain all the time that this sort of thing is too hard. I mean, she seems to grasp Transfiguration pretty well, and that's ten times as hard as Potions."

Remus began gathering the books that Jessica was using and set them aside. He would bring them to her later. "I'm not disagreeing with you, but I also understand her insecurities. However, I don't know how to get it through to her that its all in her head."

"Maybe if you told her like it is, instead of beating around the bush because you're afraid to hurt her feelings, it might help," Sirius suggested. "I understand that you love her, but that doesn't mean you can't be firm with her from time to time."

"Remus doesn't have a firm bone in his body," Sophia pointed out. "He'd never be able to tell Jessica off like I just did."

"You act like you're proud of it," Remus said, not liking Sophia's tone.

Sophia began closing her ink bottle. "I'm not proud of what I said. I know how sensitive she is, and the last thing I want to do is hurt her feelings, but sometimes I think we take it too easy on her. We've been doing it for about six years now. It's not my fault that I finally just snapped."

"Er...it kind of is," Sirius teased.

"Shut up. Anyways, I guess I'll apologize to her later, after I've had time to cool down."

After their spare period, the three of them had lunch. As they were sitting down with James, Lily, and Peter, an attractive dark-haired girl in green Slytherin robes approached them. Sophia grimaced and began piling a few sandwiches onto her plate.

"Hey, you lot," she said, sitting down next to Sirius. "So, Potter, the Slytherin team is looking great this year. We got two new Beaters who are bound to knock you off your broomstick."

"They'd have to catch me first," James said with a smug grin.

"So, Penelope, what's a pretty girl like you doing at our table?" Sirius said with his signature charming grin as he ran his fingers through his hair. Sophia rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I just wanted to see what a sexy beast like you was up to," she said suggestively.

Sophia made gagging noises, causing Penelope to look up at her. "You jealous, Jones?" she smirked and raised her perfectly arched left eyebrow.

"Of you? Please. Who could ever be jealous of you?"

"Well, you, apparently. You're not very good at hiding it."

"At least I don't go around shamelessly flirting with guys."

Penelope flipped her long hair over her shoulders. "I don't shamelessly flirt. I'm just confident."

"Sure, call it what you will if that makes you sleep better at night."

Penelope snorted. "Whatever. Anyways, Sirius, do you think you could help me this weekend? I'm having a little trouble with the Glacius spell and can't seem to get it to work. I think it might be the way I'm holding my wand."

Sirius could only nod as his mouth was full of turkey, ham, and cheese. Penelope's hand lingered on his shoulder for a minute before slowly sliding off. He watched her leave. Actually, he was more or less watching her backside. Sophia hit him over the back of the head and scowled at him.

"Ow!" He rubbed the offending area. "What was that for?"

"Could you have made it any more obvious that you were ogling her?"

"I wasn't ogling her! I just happen to think she's pretty nice. I don't know what your problem with her is."

Sophia folded her arms across her chest. "I don't have a problem with her."

"I hate to say it, but you kind of do," Remus chimed in, setting his goblet down. "As far as Slytherins go, she's not so bad."

"Don't tell me you're taken in by her so called charms, too," Sophia said, glaring at the light-haired Gryffindor.

"You know I'm not. I just think that maybe you don't like her because you feel threatened."

Sophia laughed bitterly. "You couldn't be more wrong." Disgusted, she threw her last half eaten sandwich back onto her plate and stood up. "I'm going for a walk. I'll meet you guys in History of Magic."

Once she had left, they turned to stare at Sirius, who didn't seem to be in a hurry to get up. "What?" he asked when he saw them looking at him.

"Aren't you going to go after her, mate?" James asked.

"Why? Did I do something wrong?" Sirius said naively.

"You should at least go talk to her," Remus suggested as he pulled the crust off of his turkey and cheese sandwich.

Sirius leaned back, resting his hands behind his head. "I don't think so. I'll just give her some time to cool down."

Lily gave Sirius a look. "Honestly, sometimes I don't know what Sophia sees in you."

Sirius sat up. "Excuse me? What do you mean by that?"

"I'm saying that you can be such a git sometimes. As much as you try to deny it, you were checking Penelope out, and Sophia, obviously, didn't like that."

"You don't know anything about Sophia. She'll be fine," Sirius replied without much worry.

"I know her way better than you do. You may have slept with her a few times, but that doesn't mean a thing."

"Look, I'm sorry you feel that way, but Sophia and I made an agreement that we would still see other people."

"I understand that, but does it have to be someone who she hates with a passion? I'm not saying I approve of her dislike of Penelope, but you could at least think about her feelings."

"Are you saying that I'm insensitive?" Sirius asked, standing up abruptly.

Lily followed suit. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"So, I happen to like Penelope. That doesn't make me insensitive!"

James pulled on Lily's arm. "It's not worth it to fight over this girl."

"She started it!" Sirius snapped. "She's the one who jumped down my throat!"

"Only because I'm worried about my friend!" Lily shot back.

"Are we really going to argue over one girl?" Remus asked in his usual calm tone of voice. "In my opinion, I think that we should let Sirius and Sophia deal with it on their own."

"Exactly! Thank you, Moony!" Sirius cried gratefully.

* * *

That evening, after dinner, Jessica waited outside for Remus. He had agreed to go with her to Hagrid's hut in order to help with Cinnamon and her baby, who had been named Buckbeak. They had helped taken care of him every Friday since the start of the term. Remus soon approached her, looking more weary than usual.

"Are you all right?" Jessica asked.

"I'm just a little stressed. I've had to listen to Sirius and Lily bicker all day," he said leaning down to give her a kiss.

"What are they fighting about?"

"Well, Lily thinks that Sirius is being insensitive to Sophia's feelings, and Sirius thinks that Lily should just mind her own goddamn business. His words, not mine."

If there was one thing Jessica couldn't stand, it was her friends arguing. That was why she usually disappeared whenever an argument broke out, or clammed up and didn't say a thing. So, of course, she was glad that she wasn't present for this argument. She had been in the Hufflepuff common room during lunch, so she didn't exactly hear it.

"I actually came out here to tell you that I don't think I'll be coming with you to help with Cinnamon and Buckbeak. I've had to referee their arguments all day, and I'm exhausted."

Jessica frowned. "But I was hoping we could spend some time together."

Remus sighed. "I'm sorry, Jess. I'm just too tired right now."

"But you wouldn't have to do anything. You could just watch me."

"I promise, I'll make it up to you."

Jessica sulked. They barely got to spend any time together as it was. "Fine, I guess."

Remus pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "Please don't be mad at me. You know I'd come with you if I wasn't about to fall over."

"Would you, really?" she asked cynically

"You know I would. Tomorrow is Saturday. We'll do something together."

Jessica hated to see him go. She also realized that she might have been a little selfish, but he seemed to have no problem going with her during the other Fridays, so why was this Friday any different? Dejected, she walked to Hagrid's alone.


	7. Chapter 7: Hagrid's Advice

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* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Hagrid's Advice**

Jessica heard the barking sounds of Fang, Hagrid's boarhound, as she neared the hut. She shoved her hands into her pockets and approached them. They were both in the small garden where Hagrid was spraying his pumpkins free of pests. The minute Fang saw her, he bounded for her. Jessica braced herself as Fang leapt onto her, attempting to lick her face.

"All right, Fang," she said, laughing as she struggled to push the massive dog off. "Yes, I missed you, too."

"Down, Fang!" Hagrid came out of the garden carrying Flesh Eating Slug Repellant. "All righ' there, Jessica?"

Jessica finally managed to push Fang off. "Hi, Hagrid. How's your pumpkin patch doing?"

"They'd be doin' much better withou' all the pests," he said as he led her around the back to a large fenced-in area, which held Cinnamon and Buckbeak. Jessica stood back a few feet and bowed low, keeping her eyes firmly on the light brown hippogriff. Cinnamon assessed her for a moment before dipping her large feathered head, her beak almost touching the ground. Jessica approached and lightly patted her neck while Hagrid disappeared to get the bottle.

"How are you doing, girl?" Jessica whispered soothingly before reaching down to give Buckbeak a few pats. The baby Hippogriff seemed to be in a playful mood this evening, for he kept trying to tug on Jessica's robes. Hagrid returned with a large bottle.

"How long until you think he'll be ready to fly?" Jessica asked, rubbing Buckbeaks neck while he suckled from the bottle.

"He's only abou' three to four weeks old. Hippogriffs normally firs' take flight at eight weeks."

Jessica continued feeding Buckbeak until the bottle was empty. "Where's Remus by the way?" Hagrid asked.

"He was feeling rather tired, so he couldn't make it." Jessica handed the bottle back to Hagrid.

"You don' sound too happy abou' it."

It amazed Jessica that Hagrid could be so observant at times. Many students thought him to be a bit slow, but he was actually quite intelligent. He'd always told her that she could talk to him about anything. But she really didn't want to talk about her problems. Instead, she tried to change the subject.

"Hagrid, why were you expelled?"

Hagrid suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Er...let's just say something happened that I was caugh' in the middle of."

Jessica had a small feeling that there was more to the story than Hagrid was letting on. She wished she was more like Dorcas or Sophia, and could nag him until he gave in. After Jessica helped Hagrid clean out the pen, she joined him in his hut.

"How abou' some brandy?" he offered.

Jessica bit the inside of her cheek nervously. "Er...I don't exactly drink. It...does things to me."

"Fine, fine. Then how abou' a spot of tea?"

"That would be fine." She sat down in one of the large chairs near the fireplace. The hut was cozy and warm. There were times when when Jessica preferred its simplicity to the vast complexity of the school with its moving staircases, secret rooms, and doors that led nowhere. She accepted her cup of tea and sipped, wincing as the liquid burned her tongue.

Hagrid offered her a large tray of biscuits, but Jessica politely declined. She didn't want to put her teeth through that kind of pain and torture again. She stared down at the large mug as she let the tea cool. "Hagrid? Do you think I give up too easily?"

Hagrid lowered his large brandy. "What do ya mean?"

"I mean that, whenever I see something as too much of a challenge, I pretty much lose all hope that I'll ever be able to succeed."

"We all feel that way sometimes."

"I just clam up sometimes whenever something seems too hard, or when a conflict rises. Does that make me weak?"

"Well, I can't really be sure what yer talkin' about. I don't exactly know everythin' tha' goes on in the school, despite what you migh' think. But, I can tell you tha' many people have their own strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, avoiding things like conflict can be the smartes' thin' to do."

"Sometimes I wish I could be more confident, like James and Sirius. Those two aren't afraid of anything. Not to mention, things seem to come so easily to them."

Hagrid chuckled. "I don' think the world could handle a copy o' those two. Seriously though, I think your problem is that you migh' not have found your own strength yet. You can' expect it to pop up overnigh'. Sometimes it may come to yeh, but other times, yeh have to bring it out fer yourself."

Jessica thought about Hagrids words. Her own strength? Was she really a much stronger witch than she let herself believe? Was she letting her insecurities get in the way of her true potential? What could she do to change how people saw her? She didn't want to be seen as the weak little witch who always needed guidance forever.

"Thank you, Hagrid," she said setting her empty mug down on the large wooden coffee table.

"Anytime." Hagrid stood and walked her to the door. It was getting dark outside, so he walked her back to the castle, where Jessica gave him a hug and bid him good night.

* * *

The next afternoon, Jessica was in the library again, this time by herself. In front of her was a long roll of parchement with her partially written Potions essay. She had a large book open next to her and was doing her best to copy information from it, in her own words, of course. She almost didn't hear Amos sit next to her, until he spoke.

"Working hard, aren't we?" he asked, peering at her essay. "Do you need some help?"

"No thanks, I'm fine," Jessica said, not looking up.

"If you insist, but you kind of missed a lot of information that you could put into your essay."

Jessica looked up and glared at him. Amos put his hands up in surrender. "I'm just trying to give you some advice. You do want to get a good mark, don't you?"

Of course Jessica did. What kind of question was that? She'd been sitting here for two hours now, working on this essay. She felt like her brain had fried a long time ago, but she was determined to, at least, do this on her own. When Amos didn't leave, she looked up at him. "Is there something you need?"

"I just wanted to ask you something, that's all. But if you're busy, I can come back later."

Jessica sighed and marked her place before closing the book. She could have used a break. "It's all right. What did you need?"

Amos rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I kind of wanted to ask you if...er...Dorcas has said anything about me lately."

Jessica frowned thoughtfully. "Well, Dorcas talks about what a great Chaser you are."

Amos blushed. "Really? She said that about me?"

Jessica nodded. "Sure, after complaining that the Hufflepuff team was just a huge sausage fest where she was the only girl."

"Don't tell me that's the real reason she wanted you to try out for the team," Amos laughed.

"She didn't exactly say, but she seems to be hinting at it," Jessica said with a smile. "Although, she probably enjoys being around all those guys."

Amos' smile fell. "I see. I guess I don't have a chance."

It took Jessica a minute to process what Amos was trying to say. She couldn't believe that she didn't see it before. Was it possible that he liked Dorcas?

"Hey, you know Slughorn has been hinting at a Halloween Party for his...er...collection. You're part of that, aren't you? Why don't you invite her? It's not much, but you could at least start somewhere."

"I don't know. What if she says no?"

"You never know unless you ask."

Amos was silent for a moment, then he pulled Jessica in for a hug, much to her surprise. Why did people always assume she liked random embraces? Not wanting to be rude, she patted him on the back and drew back. "Just go and talk to her, ask her to the party. You can't expect her to figure out how you feel if you don't say anything."

Amos shocked Jessica by kissing her on the cheek. "Thank you, Jess." He stood up and left the library. Jessica turned back to her essay, but no sooner had she started working on it again, Remus sat down. At this rate, she would never get done.

"What was that all about?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, I just gave Amos some advice, that's all."

"He seemed to really appreciate it," Remus said, but there was something strange in his tone that Jessica couldn't put her finger on.

"Are you upset?" she asked in a concerned tone of voice.

Remus shook his head. "No, I'm fine." He then smiled. "Hey, I did promise to spend some time with you. There's the Room of Requirement. Why don't we go there now?"

Jessica raised an eyebrow, and a smile played at her lips. "Are you actually suggesting that I put off my Potions Essay a little longer to go spend time with you?"

"Er...I guess I am," Remus said with a laugh.

Without having to think twice about it, Jessica closed the book, stuffed the parchment into her bag, and stood up. "Lead the way," she said, grinning from ear to ear.

* * *

Remus may have seemed cheerful on the outside, but, on the inside, he was questioning himself. When he had walked in and seen Amos and Jessica laughing together, then Amos kiss her on the cheek, it made him think. Even though Amos was just most likely thanking Jessica for the advice she'd given him, the two of them looked good together. Amos was also around Jessica more, given that they were in the same House, and had a lot of the same classes together. Amos didn't have any crosses to bear. Nor did he ever have to worry about unintentionally hurting Jessica. He was much more outgoing and cheerful, the kind of person Jessica needed.

The Room of Requirement was made to look like the Hufflepuff common room, for Remus had asked Jessica to think of the one place where she would want to be alone with him. He took in the earthy tones, the many plants, and the plush, cheerful yellow furniture as the two of them sat down near the large stone fireplace with two large bottles of butterbeer and two mugs. A thick woven brown blanket was placed near the fireplace for their comfort.

For now, Remus didn't want to ruin their time with the doubts running through his mind. He pushed them back as far as they would go, until they only resembled a minor twinge, similar to the feeling he got when his foot fell asleep.

"I'm sorry that I got upset last night when you couldn't come with me to Hagrid's," Jessica said, pulling Remus away from his thoughts.

"I'm not mad at you. We all have those moments when we're selfish."

Jessica looked up. "Selfish? What do you mean?"

Remus winced. He was beginning to think he should have just kept that thought to himself. "What I mean is...er...there are times when you only seem to care for yourself and what makes you happy."

"But I don't mean to do it!"

"Calm down, Jess, I never said it was intentional. I'm just saying that you didn't seem all that concerned about me, last night. All you cared about was going to Hagrid's with me."

"I asked if you were all right," Jessica protested.

The last thing Remus wanted to do was argue with her, so he spoke as soothingly as possible. "I'm not trying to make you upset. I'm just saying that, sometimes, you can't have things your way."

Jessica seemed to be thinking as she sipped her butterbeer. "I don't want to argue. I can try to be more considerate in the future, but I can't promise that I'll be successful."

"Trying is all I'm asking you to do," Remus said as set his mug down and pulled her close and began to gently run his fingers through her thick curls, as he tried his best to keep his thoughts of Jessica and Amos at bay.


	8. Chapter 8: I Really Don't Drink

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* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **I Really Don't Drink**

The first Quidditch Match of the season was on the very last Monday in September, between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Unfortunately, because it was the day before the full moon, Remus found himself bedridden in the dormitories. As he lay with his arm draped over his eyes and his curtains drawn, he heard James' voice.

"I'm about to head out to the Quidditch Pitch, mate. Will you be all right?"

Remus detected the hint of concern in his best friend's tone. "I'll be fine as long as I don't move around too much." He didn't feel as horrible about missing the match as he felt about not being able to watch it with Jessica. Right now, he would have liked nothing more than to have her lying with him, but certain circumstances, such as the fact that they were in two different Houses, made it impossible. James left with the promise to tell him all about the match once he got back. Remus thanked him, and soon, the boys' dormitory was filled with silence.

He sighed, thinking that he might as well get some rest. There was a definite possibility that, tomorrow night, he would have to practically be carried to The Shrieking Shack. Well, maybe not carried, but he'd make it there, somehow, because he had no other choice. The thought of being inside the school during a transformation filled him with dread, and was something he dreamed about almost every night.

* * *

"Move it or lose it." Dorcas wedged in between a second year Ravenclaw and Jessica, carrying a small flag sporting the Gryffindor House colors.

Jessica clutched her book in her lap. "Wouldn't it be much nicer to say excuse me?"

"He moved, didn't he?" Dorcas reached over and plucked the book from Jessica's hands. "You are not reading while the match is going on," she said as she sat on it.

"But I'm at a really good part," Jessica whined as she used a Summoning Charm to silently slide the book out from under her friend.

Dorcas grimaced in disgust. "I don't know how you can even read when a Quidditch Match is much more interesting."

"I can do both at the same time," Jessica protested.

Dorcas rolled her eyes. "Oh, really? Then, do you remember who scored the final goal before the Snitch was caught in last year's third match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor?"

Jessica seemed to be engrossed in her book. "Er...Lovegood."

"Oh, yes, a Ravenclaw, who doesn't even play Quidditch, scored the final goal for Gryffindor. That makes total sense," Dorcas said sarcastically.

Jessica set the book face down. "I'm sorry that I don't follow the sport as well as the rest of you. I'm just not as interested in it as you are."

Dorcas gave her an expression of pure shock and annoyance. "It's the greatest sport known to wizarding kind. If you're not interested, then why do you even come to the matches?"

"I come in order to support my friends," Jessica said haughtily. She didn't want to admit it, but Dorcas was, sort of, getting on her last nerve. "Besides, just because I'm not as interested, doesn't mean that I still don't like it, somewhat."

"Did you ever stop to think that the reason it doesn't really tickle your fancy is because you're afraid of heights?"

"Even if I wasn't, I'm not as athletic as you and the others, and I'm perfectly fine with that."

Dorcas looked like she was about to present a counterargument, but someone sat down next to her and spoke in an almost ethereal voice. "Good day, the stars foretold that I would be sitting next to you in the match."

Dorcas rolled her eyes. The voice belonged to Sybill Trelawney, a sixth year Ravenclaw, who had a penchant for making false predictions. Just three years ago, she had predicted that Jessica would suffer a near death situation. When it didn't come true within a year, Jessica stopped worrying so much.

"Of course, it's always the stars," Dorcas whispered to Jessica. "Doesn't she know that she made the conscious decision to sit with us just now?"

"Hm..." Jessica didn't get a chance to say anything, for the whistle blew, and everyone in the stands jumped up and began cheering as both teams soared out onto the field. She tried her best to hide her disappointment that Remus wasn't sitting with her in the stands, but she couldn't help feeling a little let down. Still, thanks to the lunar calender, which she checked often, she knew that it was the day before a full moon. Despite trying to be understanding, Jessica sulked a little bit, wishing the curse wasn't such a hindrance to their relationship.

She mentally shook her head, as her eyes followed the match. Yet, her thoughts were elsewhere. It was never Remus' fault. So, why was she feeling resentful? Why did she have to be so selfish and think of herself, instead of Remus, who must have been suffering much more than she was? Was she really as good of a girlfriend as she thought she was? Or did Remus, perhaps, deserve someone better and more understanding?

* * *

Gryffindor ended up winning the match. Jessica managed to catch a glimpse of Evers catching the Snitch, and cheered loudly, along with the rest of the crowd. She had pushed away the nagging thoughts for now, and would think about them tomorrow. Dorcas and Jessica were joined by Amos, who slung his arms around both of their shoulders as they walked back to the castle.

"Sirius mentioned a party in the Room of Requirement tonight after dinner. What d'ya say? Wanna go?"

Jessica, feeling uncomfortable, slid out from under Amos' arm. "I think I'm just going to work on my homework. But you two can tell me how the party goes."

Dorcas wasn't having it, however. "Oh, no you don't, missy. You are going to that party with me whether you like it or not."

Jessica followed Dorcas and Amos back to the castle, trying to make up excuses about why she couldn't go, but her two friends weren't having it.

* * *

That evening, Jessica tried again to get out of going to the party. "What's the point in going if Remus isn't even going to be there?"

Dorcas frowned as smoothed down Jessica's tresses, which she had used a Curl Taming Potion on. "Why isn't he coming?"

"Er...he's not feeling too well. He has a slight fever." It was sort of the truth, as Remus did get sick right before the full moon.

"That's too bad, but you have to learn to stop clinging to him so much. Just because he won't be at the party doesn't mean you still can't have fun."

Sirius was waiting outside the entrance to the Room of Requirement as Dorcas and Jessica approached a few minutes later. Jessica tugged at her tight-fitting, longsleeve top, which Dorcas had forced her to wear. While she would have rather crawled back into her baggy sweater and sit in front of the fireplace with her book, she sucked it up. She folded her arms tightly across her chest to hide her cleavage.

"You two are late." Sirius smirked as he gave them both a once over, his eyes stopping on Jessica. "Wow, Jess. Dare I say it? You actually look like a girl for once. Are those real boobs you're trying to hide?"

"Bite me, Black," she muttered as she turned away, blushing furiously.

Sirius winked at her. "Are you secretly coming onto me, Merton?"

Jessica blanched. "No, of course not! I have a boyfriend, you know!"

Sirius gave a bark-like laugh. "I'm just kidding."

Dorcas rolled her eyes. "Black, while I enjoy your charms, could you please let us in?"

Sirius smirked. "Aren't we the feisty one?" He paced back and forth in front of the entrance three times until a large door appeared. The inside was made to look like the Gryffindor common room, or, at least, this is what Jessica assumed from the scarlet and gold furnishings. It wasn't just Gryffindors, either. There were also a few Hufflepuffs, including Amos, who waved at them, some Ravenclaws, and Jessica could have sworn she saw Penelope talking and laughing with Frank and Alice.

"Er...isn't she on the Slytherin team?" Jessica asked, nodding at Penelope.

"Yeah, but she's all right," Sirius said. "Anyways, have fun." He shoved two bottles of firewhiskey into their hands and walked over to dance with Sophia. Jessica stared down at the bottle, wondering if Sirius even remembered that she didn't drink.

"What are you doing?" Dorcas had already taken a big swig. "Bottoms up."

Jessica grimaced. "I don't drink, though."

"Come on, just one sip. It's actually pretty good."

From the look on Jessica's face, one would have thought that Dorcas had asked her to eat a live snake. Still, what could one sip do to her? She popped the cap off with a simple spell, and put the bottle to her lips. After hesitating for a moment, she took a sip. Immediately, she began to cough. The stuff tasted horrible, and it burned going down.

"Ugh, why is it so hot?" she asked as she stuck her tongue out and waved her hand in front of it as if that would cool it off. Conjuring a goblet, she filled it using the Aguamenti spell, and gulped the water down. All the while, Dorcas was laughing hysterically.

"Wow, you can be such a drama queen, sometimes. It's not that bad. Trust me, it gets better after the first sip."

"I think I'd rather be stuck on a deserted island with Snape than take another drink," Jessica said in disgust, handing the bottle to Dorcas before she walked over to one of the couches and sat down next to Lily. Lily appeared to be glaring at Marlene, who was laughing at something that James was saying.

"Ugh, can you believe her?" she asked, slurring a little. "She's been hogging his attention ever since she arrived at the party." She took a few large gulps of her firewhiskey, much to Jessica's surprise, and hiccuped. "I mean, does she have no decency? Just look at her cozying up to him! And, what's up with that stupid fan club? She acts like James is a big celebrity."

Jessica scratched her head. "Er...Lily, how much have you had to drink?"

"I don't know." Lily hiccuped again and started to take another drink.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" Jessica asked kindly.

"I'll tell you when I've had enough!" Lily yelled. Jessica could smell the firewhiskey on the red-head's breath, and it turned her stomach.

Jessica stood up. "Make sure she doesn't move," she said to Dorcas as she walked over to James and Marlene. She could hear bits of their conversation as she got closer.

"So, you really think the Cleansweep 2 is perfect for me?" Marlene asked.

"It's the perfect broom for all basic flyers," James said, proud of his knowledge of brooms. "It has a very easy touch, too."

Marlene stepped closer to James. "Well, then, when I get it, do you think you could show me a few simple tricks?"

James scratched the back of his head, ruffling his hair a bit. "Er...sure. No problem. Hey, Jess." He smiled at the Hufflepuff.

"Hi. Um...you may want to check on Lily. I think she's had too much to drink, already."

James looked over and saw Lily on the verge of passing out, with her head on Dorcas' lap. "Wow, I guess I'd better take her back to the common room. Sorry, Marlene. We'll talk later."

Marlene smiled warmly. "It's no problem. I hope Lily will be all right."

"I'm sure she will." James walked away. The minute he was out of earshot, Marlene's entire expression changed into one of annoyance as she rounded on Jessica.

"Damn you! I was so close. Why did you have to ruin everything?" she hissed, her blue eyes cold with resentment.

Jessica couldn't help, but be a little baffled. "He's just checking on his girlfriend. You two were only talking."

Marlene jabbed her manicured forefinger into Jessica's shoulder, causing her to wince. "I'm not going to let you or anyone else get in the way of what I want! Don't even think that you have a chance against me!" She turned and walked away, leaving Jessica to stare after her, wondering if she should say something to someone, or keep her mouth shut and hope that it would resolve itself.


	9. Chapter 9: Jessica's Decision

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* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **Jessica's Decision**

An hour into the party, Jessica felt like she had exhausted her stay, and was ready to leave. Looking over at Dorcas, she saw that her friend was in good hands with Amos, who seemed to be making sure that she didn't overindulge too much with the drinking. Feeling it was all right to leave, Jessica opened the door and silently slipped out. As she came around a corner, she heard some voices.

"I don't think you understand, Longbottom. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Even though you're a bloodtraitor, your blood is still as pure as ours. Rejecting my offer would be a foolish thing to do."

"I think I'll take my chances." Jessica peered around the corner and saw Snape and Frank staring each other down with their wands drawn.

"Deep down, you know that the world must be purged of Mudbloods and half-breeds. You could be a great asset to our cause."

"Tsch, right. I definitely want to join your cause of killing my fellow witches and wizards just because of their blood status," James sneered sarcastically. "It's something I dreamed of doing since I was in diapers. Don't make me laugh, Snivellus."

Snape tightened his grip on his wand. "I really hate that name," he growled before yelling, "Everte Statum!"

Frank reacted with a Shield Charm, protecting himself from Snape's spell, but it was still powerful enough to send him sliding back a few feet. "Incarcerous!"

Thick ropes shot from the tip of Frank's wand and wrapped themselves around Snape. Unable to keep his balance, Snape fell to the ground, and looked up at Frank with a chilling hatred in his dark eyes.

"You're a fool, Longbottom. The Dark Lord will rise again, and you will be one of the first he kills! I'll make sure of it! You'll-"

"Langlock!" Snape began to making choking sounds as his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth, preventing him from speaking. "You really don't want to cross me, Snape."

"What is going on here?" McGonagall demanded as she approached. "Explain yourself, Longbottom!"

Frank spun around to face the Deputy Headmistress, blanching in the process. McGonagall was, perhaps, the most intimidating professor in this school. She was not afraid to discipline anyone who stepped out of line, even those in her own House. She was the Head of Gryffindor, and definitely not one to cross.

"Mr. Longbottom?"

Frank looked at Snape, then back up at the Professor, who was waiting for an answer. Jessica shrank back further, wanting desperately to come out of hiding and say something, but it was almost like her feet were glued to the ground. Two voices warred inside her head.

 _"Do something! He'll get in trouble if you don't!"_

 _"This isn't your problem. Frank can take care of himself. The only thing McGonagall will probably do is deduct House points and give him detention."_

 _"He'd probably do the same thing for you!"_

 _"Avoid conflicts! They'll only get you into trouble!"_

 _"Help him!"_

 _"Just walk away!"_

The voices continued to argue back and forth, until Jessica felt like her head was about to split.

"Snape insulted a few of my friends," Frank explained, his eyes meeting bravely with the stern professor's. "I wasn't about to let him slander them, just because of their blood status."

"Be that as it may, Longbottom, you still broke the rules. Fighting is not allowed in the corridors. Ten points will be taken from Gryffindor and you will receive a week's worth of detention. Now, I suggest that Mr. Snape and you both get back to your common rooms." She flicked her wand, nullifying the effects of the spells on Snape. The Slytherin glared at Frank with the utmost loathing, then turned and, with a sweep of his robes, headed in the direction of the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was located.

Turning on her heels, Professor McGonagall walked briskly past Frank, turning a corner, and disappearing. Feeling that she should get out of there before she was discovered, Jessica began to back away. However, she had failed to notice the suit of armor behind her, and bumped into it. It made a loud rattling sound as it toppled over. Cursing silently, she tried to walk away quickly, but ended up stepping on a dismantled metal leg, which slipped out from under her foot and caused her to fall. Wincing, she rubbed the offending area of her rear end.

"Jessica?" The seventeen-year-old Hufflepuff looked up to see Frank standing in front of her, his face twisted into a perplexed expression. "What are you doing here?"

"Er..." Jessica shuffled her feet uncomfortably, wondering what to say. How would he react if he found out that she had been watching the entire scen unfold. She already thought herself a coward for not stepping in to help him.

"You saw the whole thing, didn't you?" Frank asked.

Jessica looked down at her feet and nodded. "I didn't mean to spy! It's just that this was the most direct way back to the common room, and, well..." her voice trailed off.

Frank chuckled and offered his hand to her, which she took, allowing him to help her stand. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. But I'm positively livid at Snape. For him to corner me and threaten me into joining his master's cause, it's disgusting."

"He's recruiting within the school?"

Frank nodded. "He seems to think that I'm worthy of consideration, despite the fact that I'm, supposedly, a blood traitor." He snorted. "As if I would ever join such a cause."

"Do you know anything about this person that Snape is trying to recruit for?"

"Voldemort? I don't even know what he looks like. All I know is that he's slowly coming out of hiding, but, apparently, he uses his minions to do his business. I believe they're called Death Eaters."

Just the name sent chills down Jessica's spine like ice cold water. "So, you think that Voldemort might have given him the task of recruiting purebloods?"

"Well, Snape also mentioned that he's looking for particularly gifted witches and wizards. So, I don't know if that also means those who contain an exceptional amount of magical skill." He smiled at her. "But I doubt you'd have anything to worry about."

"Because I'm not gifted?" Jessica asked in a dejected tone.

"No, no!" Frank cried. "You're a brilliant witch. I never meant to insinuate that you were rubbish. I'm just saying that you should feel relieved that Snape wouldn't even consider you."

Jessica understood that Frank wasn't trying to offend her. Yet, she couldn't help, but feel like Frank was only making it worse for her. It wasn't that she wanted to side with Snape. She would rather die before she did that, but it was the fact that she felt helpless and unworthy.

Frank rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Er...I should really learn to stop inserting my foot into my mouth. Want me to help you clean this mess up?"

Jessica nodded and pulled her wand, using a Repairing Charm to piece the broken suit of armor back together, while Frank levitated the statue and set it back onto the pedestal.

"There," Frank said pocketing his wand after the armor was back in its proper place. "Next time, you should watch where you're going," he said, his eyes glinting teasingly. "Want me to walk you to your common room?"

Jessica shook her head. "No, thanks. I'll get there on my own." She bid Frank good night and walked past him towards the Hufflepuff basement. When she stepped inside the common room, she noticed a few more Hufflepuffs lounging around on the various pieces of furniture. Jessica sat down in one of the empty chairs near the fireplace and gazed into the flames.

"You look like you're in a pretty deep thought," said Trudy, one of Jessica's fellow seventh-years. Trudy was pretty good friends with Dorcas. Jessica hung out and spoke with her on occasion.

"I'm just thinking of my Transfiguration Essay," Jessica said, coming up with a lie on the spot. She didn't feel like getting into what had happened just a few minutes ago. Luckily, Trudy seemed to accept it.

"Can you believe that McGonagall assigned us two rolls of parchment?" she complained, flopping down onto a chair dramatically.

"Hm...I guess it comes with being a seventh year. You get bombarded with a cauldron-load of homework. I'm dreading the N.E.W.T.s.

Trudy groaned. "Don't remind me. My head feels like its about to explode."

Jessica laughed softly. "Well, I'm sure there is a spell that might help piece it back together," she said playfully.

She spent the rest of the evening talking with Trudy, temporarily forgetting about her thoughts. Yet, when she went to bed later, they returned, full force. She was determined to change the way people saw her, no matter what it took.

* * *

September soon faded into October, and with it came the first Hogsmeade weekend of the first term. Remus waited outside the school, looking shabbier than ever. Dark circles had built up underneath his eyes, and his sweatervest hung loosely off of him, indicating that he had lost quite a bit of weight. Still, he couldn't have been happier about this visit. He had been looking forward to it since the term started.

"Ugh, I can't believe Sirius," Sophia muttered bitterly, folding her arms across her chest in a huff as she approached Remus.

Remus was bewildered. "What's wrong, now?"

"Penelope! I asked Sirius if he wanted to hang out at The Hog's Head, but he said he had already agreed to hang out with Penelope at The Three Broomsticks. You and I both know that Sirius' form of hanging out does not involve talking."

Remus shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "Why don't you just say something to him?"

"Because he's a dimwitted prat!" Sophia snapped.

"Trouble in paradise?" Dorcas walked up with Jessica, who was looking very pretty in her light pink jumper.

"You could say that," Sophia muttered. "Dorcas, you wanna spy on Sirius and Miss Thing?"

Dorcas scratched her head in confusion. "Who?"

"She means Penelope," Remus offered. There was a glint of amusement in his light green eyes.

"Oh." Dorcas shrugged. "Er...sure."

"I thought you didn't care what Sirius does," Jessica said.

Sophia rounded on her. "Of course, I don't! I just want to see how he makes a fool of himself in front of her!"

"But don't you think this jealousy has gone far enough?" Jessica asked.

"I'm not jealous!"

Remus placed a hand on Jessica's shoulder before she could say anything. "Just let Sophia deal with it for herself," he spoke in a very calm tone.

"Thank you, Remus!" Sophia and Dorcas began to head towards Hogsmeade.

Remus sighed. He had a feeling that Sophia's vendetta against Penelope would be something that would last for most of the year. He could feel himself already getting a head-ache, but he didn't want to let that get in the way of his first Hogsmeade date of the year with Jessica.

"Where do you want to go first?" Remus asked.

Jessica frowned as she looked up at him. "You look tired."

"No more than I usually am. Don't worry, I'll be all right as soon as I get some coffee into me."

"Well, Madame Puddifoots it is." Jessica intertwined her fingers with his as they walked into Hogsmeade.

It was a pleasantly cool day. Students were coming in and out of the different shops. Jessica caught a glimpse of Amos and waved at him, earning a wave in return. Remus' smile fell briefly, and the image of Amos and Jessica together plagued his mind. Luckily, it didn't last long, thanks to Jessica tugging on his arm and leading him inside the cozy teashop.

They sat down across from each other at a small, round table, covered in a white tablecloth with a candle in the very center. Remus went ahead and ordered his coffee, while Jessica ordered a hot chocolate. Remus knew that Jessica didn't care much for coffee, so it was no surprise that she didn't order it. When he looked at her, he saw that she appeared to be deep in thought.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Jessica started to shake her head, but stopped, then told him about what had happened a few weeks ago, mentioning Frank's confrontation with Snape, which she, herself had witnessed.

"I just feel like I should have done something, helped Frank in some way. Instead, I just stood there like a coward. Maybe Snape's right. Maybe I am just a worthless weakling."

Remus' heart went out to her. How many times had he thought of himself as unworthy? It had faded slightly over the years, but it still remained, buried deep in the darkest recesses of his mind. It seemed like Jessica was feeling the full force of it.

"I wish you wouldn't listen to anything that greasy haired git has to say. If you let him plant doubts in your head, then he's already won."

Jessica slowly sipped her cocoa. "I just want to be able to stand up for myself. I want to be able to defend my friends. Do you know how sick and tired I am of clamming up and running away, scared each time a challenge presents itself? Do you know how tired I am of being so weak?"

Remus placed his hand over hers. "You're anything, but weak, Jess."

"I am weak!" she snapped. "You're this brilliantly gifted wizard who isn't afraid of anything! Hell, the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor for a reason!"

Remus was used to Jessica's small outburts, but nothing like this. "You don't know everything about me," he said bitterly. "Don't think for a minute that I'm not scared of anything. There are plenty of things that I fear. You have no idea what it's like to live with my curse. I pray that you never have to find out. Every full moon I'm afraid of coming across an innocent and ripping them to shreds. Do you know how many nights I've dreamed that such a thing has happened to you?"

Jessica lowered her eyes and gazed into the brown liquid. "I just want to be able to hold my own if I'm ever cornered and no one is there to help me out of the situation. There could come a time when that happens."

Remus relaxed. "Yes, that's true. I agree that it might be good for you to improve on your Defensive Spells. You know the theory behind them, and know what they do, but it's putting them in practice that you need the most help with."

"Exactly! I need someone to tutor me! Maybe a few times a week. We can use the Room of Requirement. Please say you'll help me."

Remus squeezed her hand. "I'll do whatever I can. I can talk to James and Sirius to see if they'd be willing to take part in it, as well. They're the ones who are really skilled at Defensive Spells."

"What about Offensive Spells?"

Remus wagged his forefinger. "Ah, ah, ah. Don't you know that the best offense is a good defense? It'll be best if you become comfortable with the defensive spells, first, before you move on to the next step."

Jessica's eyes lit up, something which Remus loved to see. For the first time in, what seemed like, ages, she actually seemed genuinely happy. He leaned forward across the table, and met her lips in a soft kiss. "I'll talk to James and Sirius later. It might also be beneficial of we get the others involved as well. Having more than one tutor can be a good thing."

Jessica seemed to relax after that, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders, and the two of them spent the rest of their time in the teashop talking about random topics.


	10. Chapter 10: I'll Be Damned

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* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **I'll Be Damned**

Sophia and Dorcas entered The Three Broomsticks. The pub was teeming with students, teachers, and villagers. It was almost impossible to locate Sirius and Penelope. Fortunately, Sophia finally spotted them sitting at a table towards the back. Once they had their butterbeers, the two girls wedged their way between the tables, taking care not to bump into anyone and spill their drinks. They finally sat down in a place where they had a clear view of the Gryffindor and Slytherin. Luckily, they would have to twist their upper bodies around slightly and look behind them in order to see Sophia and Dorcas. While it was rather loud, the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were close enough to hear just about everything Sirius and Penelope were saying. Sirius had seemed so engrossed in his conversation with the beautiful Slytherin that he hadn't noticed them when they had passed.

"My parents basically have this big idea as to who I should marry," Penelope said bitterly. "Not just any pure-blood would do. I'm sick of it! I hear the same lecture from them all the time! 'Follow the path we set out for you. Only befriend those we approve of. Don't associate yourself with Muggle-borns and Half-bloods. Don't think for yourself'. Well, actually, they didn't really say those words, but they definitely insinuate them. Merlin forbid I have a differing opinion than them!"

"Your family sounds just like mine," Sirius said in an amused tone of voice. "The only difference is that I finally got tired of it and left. But you still put up with them. If I was you, I would have left a long time ago."

"I kind of have a reason for staying. I really don't want my little sister to be influenced by them. She's only three years old, and already so impressionable. I definitely don't want her growing up believing in what my parents believe in."

"Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can't really help your other family members. Just look at my brother, Regulus, and how my parents influenced him. My entire family are the poster children for blood purity."

Penelope must have detected a note of sharpness in Sirius' tone, for she changed the subject after that. Sophia gripped her mug tightly as she watched the two of them. It wasn't just the fact that she despised Penelope, but also the fact she seemed to really be hitting it off with Sirius quite well. Sophia had always thought she understood Sirius and knew him very well. She was, dare she say it, jealous?

Sophia shook her head. No way! There is no way that Sirius could like a girl like Penelope better. Didn't Sirius say that wizarding blood didn't matter to him? But maybe it was the fact that the two of them had similar family situations that they understood each other. Was it possible that, deep down, Sirius might be resenting Sophia because of her blood status? It wasn't possible. Sophia prayed that she was just being paranoid.

"I'm a little confused," Dorcas said in a low voice. "I could have sworn Jessica said that you were dating Sirius. So, why is he here with Penelope?"

Sophia was secretly thankful that Dorcas had pulled her way from her thoughts. "It's a little hard to explain. We, more or less, have an open relationship, which means that, while we are together, we still do things with other people."

Dorcas arched an eyebrow. "Okay...so, why are you upset that he's talking to Penelope if you have an open relationship?"

"If it was anyone else, I wouldn't care. But I just don't like Penelope."

"There has to be a reason, though. You can't dislike her just because Sirius seems to like her."

"Of course not!" Sophia snapped. "I hate the way she taunts me. She knows she's better than me at everything, and can't resist reminding me every chance she gets. She's wanted Sirius for a long time. Yet, now that Sirius and I are together, she seems more aggressive about it."

"Did you ever stop and think that she's doing it because she knows how it makes you feel?" Dorcas asked. "She's trying to get a rise out of you?"

"Oh, believe me, I'm about to get a rise right now," Sophia muttered, but she remained in her seat, watching the two of them as her brown eyes blazed with anger.

"If you don't like the fact that he's talking to her, why don't you go say something?" Dorcas suggested. "He won't know unless you speak up."

"Because, I don't want to be one of those jealous girlfriends who gets upset each time her boyfriend talks to another girl."

"But you said that you hated the girl."

Sophia folded her arms across her chest and slouched in her chair, huffily. "I said 'I don't like her'."

Dorcas waved the statement away with her right hand. "Whatever. The point is that, unless you say something, he'll never know how you feel."

"Then he'll never know," Sophia said stubbornly, glaring down at the small dark lines in the wooden table.

Dorcas sighed impatiently. "You're being ridiculous."

"I am not!" Sophia hissed.

"Yes, you kind of are!" Dorcas argued. "You sit there and whine about how you don't like the fact that Sirius is talking to the one girl you dislike. But you don't do anything about it. You just keep glaring at him, hoping that he'll magically know what you're thinking. Here's the thing, though. He never will, unless he's secretly gifted in Legilimency!"

"It's not that simple," Sophia muttered.

"How is it not simple? The next time you get a chance, get him alone somewhere and tell him how you feel. He may be a huge prat, but I'm sure he'll listen to what you have to say."

"You seem to have no problem speaking your mind. Can't you tell him for me?" Sophia begged.

"No! It won't have any meaning if I do it for you! The only way you're going to get him to understand is if you tell him on your own. This doesn't mean running off in a huff every time you get upset at him. If you keep doing that, your relationship will never survive."

Sophia wanted to argue, but maybe Dorcas was right. Yet, what if Sirius just laughed at her and said that she was being ridiculous? It was one thing for this Hufflepuff to call her that, but for her boyfriend? Would she be able to take it? Despite what she often said about not caring what anyone thought, the exception to that rule was Sirius. His opinion was everything to her.

"Look they're getting up to leave," Dorcas said, pulling Sophia away from her thoughts once more. "I'm guessing you want to follow them?"

Sophia shook her head. "No, thanks," she muttered. "I'd rather keep what's left of my pride."

"I think you might have lost it a while back," Dorcas teased.

Sophia's lips twitched slightly in amusement as she lifted her mug to her lips.

* * *

Remus and Jessica left Madame Puddifoots and stepped out into the cool Autumn air. The couple held hands as they walked down the street. Jessica felt a little more content, now that Remus had agreed to help her. The anxiety she felt upon asking had been overwhelming. Yet, now it had completely lifted. Now there was the problem of actually succeeding in mastering these defensive spells.

They walked into Honeydukes and were greeted by warmth and the scent of a wide variety of sweets. Just the thought of eating every one of them set her mouth watering. Jessica pulled Remus to a large bin that held chocolate frogs.

Remus chortled. "Why am I not surprised you sniffed out these first? I think you might have an even bigger chocolate addiction than me."

"If she doesn't watch her addiction, she'll soon be as big as a house. Although, I have to say that she's almost there," sneered a voice a few feet behind them.

Remus put a protective arm around Jessica and glared at Dolohov, the one who had insulted her.

"Why don't you shove off, Dolohov?" Remus growled.

"Don't test me, wolfy," Dolohov snarled.

Jessica looked down and saw Remus' hand clenching something in his pocket. She assumed it was his wand. While she did find it sweet that Remus would defend her, she did not want to have to witness another confrontation so soon. She lightly tugged on the sleeve of his button up.

"Let's just go, Remus," she pleaded.

Remus still glared at Dolohov, but relaxed, then turned and walked out of the shop with Jessica trailing behind him. "Remus, wait up!" Jessica called when he got too far ahead. He finally stopped, a few hundred feet from the Shrieking Shack.

"Please don't let it bother you. I'm used to it," Jessica said forcing a smile. Remus spun around to face her.

"I wasn't about to let him talk to you like that. I'll be damned if anyone insults my girlfriend!"

Jessica was surprised, for he was always so mild mannered. "But they've insulted me before in front of you, and you just ignore them."

"Let's just say it's been building up for a very long time," Remus muttered. "Years, in fact." His light green eyes blazed with a strong sense of passion as he gripped Jessica's shoulders tightly. "I refuse to let them make you think you are anything less than worthy. Even if you do deserve better than me."

Bewildered, Jessica was about to ask him what the meant, but the minute his lips touched hers, she forgot everything. Her arms slid around his neck and dug into his wind-tousled hair. Her breathing became slightly uneven as his hands slid underneath her jumper, and began gently massaging her waist. As she pressed against him, she felt something hard between his legs, lightly pressing against her left thigh, which caused him to abruptly pull back.

"I'm sorry," he said a little breathlessly as he helped her straighten her jumper, which was lifted up slightly to reveal her pale midriff.

Jessica looked down, her deep blue eyes meeting with the bulge in between his legs, before she averted them. "It's okay," she muttered, her cheeks tinged a furious shade of red.

"Why don't we head to the book shop?" Remus suggested offering his hand to her after they had both regained their composure. Jessica agreed, struggling to restrain the feeling of lust that had built up within her. Sex was one of the things that crossed her mind quite often. She was a fully mature young adult with hormones, after all. But she never counted on the way her body would grow hot, and the arousal she would feel just from his simple touch. To say that she hadn't experimented with herself sometimes would be a bold-faced lie. Yet, the thought of Remus touching her forced those sensations into overdrive. What would happen if they ever did go that far? How did Remus feel about the subject? She wanted to ask him someday what his thoughts were. He had to think about it too, sometimes. He definitely wasn't as sexually active as Sirius, but it had to've crossed his mind. After all, he possessed hormones just like everyone else, despite the fact that he behaved with a strong air of modesty.

* * *

To say that Remus was feeling minorly stimulated from the scene near the Shrieking Shack would be a massive understatement. For a brief moment, he had thought of pulling her into the shack where they would have all the privacy they wanted. The way he desired her both excited and scared him at the same time. He had often been able to keep these sensations at a dull roar. Still, he couldn't help but feel that he had almost reached his limit of sexual depravity. Perhaps he could talk to Sirius. But no, just the thought alone was embarrassing enough.

"Oh, wow! They finally released the next book in the series!" Jessica exclaimed, pulling Remus from his thoughts. He peered over her shoulder at the title of the book, which was part of a series known as The Gemstones Of Camelot. She began to dig through her pocket for her small moneybag, but Remus stopped her by placing his hand on her arm.

"Don't worry, I got it," he said as he took the book from her, despite her protests that she could pay for it and carried it to the front to take care of the purchase. As he finished paying, Jessica set another book down in front of the shopkeeper.

"I'd like this one?"

"What are you doing?" Remus asked in bewilderment.

"I'm getting you this book. Apparently it's about some of the greatest wizarding wars throughout history. I thought you might enjoy it since you really seem to like History of Magic."

"I can't let you pay for that!" Remus groaned as Jessica dug into her pocket and produced two Galleons and four Sickles.

"Of course you can," Jessica said with a hint of stubbornness. "You do things for me all the time. Why not let me do this teensy weensy thing for you?"

Remus sighed. "Fine, but at least let me pay you back."

"You never expect me to pay you back, so why should I expect you?" Jessica picked up the small paper sack and handed it to Remus. "You put up with me on a regular basis, even though I probably annoy you. It's the least I could do."

"You don't annoy me," Remus said, shuffling his feet awkwardly. "Why would you even think that?"

Jessica shrugged. Remus felt that there was more she wanted to say, but instead, she smiled cheerfully, refusing to talk about it. Remus didn't want to pressure her. He knew she would talk about it if she wanted to.


	11. Chapter 11: If I Didn't Care

**Chapter 11**

 **If I Didn't Care**

On Tuesday, Jessica was in Potions class with the some of her fellow seventh year Hufflepuffs and a few Ravenclaws. She had her book on Advanced Potion Making open in front of her, turned to a page on an Elixir to Induce Euphoria, which was the potion that the class was brewing today.

"So, James and Sirius agreed to help you with your defensive spells?" Dorcas asked as she added shrivelfig to her potion and began to stir it until it started changing from turquoise to blue.

Jessica nodded. "Remus talked to them, and they thought it seemed like a good idea. I'm not sure, but I think Lily and Sophia might help me out, as well." She looked down at her potion, which was green when it was supposed to be brown by now. "Er...that's not right," she said scratching her head in confusion as she pored over her book, reading to herself. "Add porcupine quills till it turns blue, got that, simmer until purple, yup, add seven castor beans...wait..." She looked up at Dorcas. "How many beans did I add?"

"I wasn't exactly watching," Dorcas admitted sheepishly.

"Maybe I should turn the heat up a bit." She set the flame a little higher.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why not?" As she said that, the dark green substance began to rise and spill over. Almost immediately the classroom was filled with the putrid smell of rotten eggs and sulfur, making one of Sirius' gaseous discharges smell like peaches.

"No need to worry!" called Professor Slughorn as he waved his wand, removing the smell.

Jessica winced. "Sorry, Professor!"

"Quite all right, Milton, quite all right. Try to be a little more careful next time and follow what the book says exactly," Slughorn said in a tone to indicate there was no harm done.

"Er...it's Merton." He always seemed to get her name wrong. Dorcas' lips twitched in amusement, causing Jessica to glare at her.

Once class ended and they had all been assigned an essay to complete for next time, Dorcas headed to Arithmancy, but Jessica had a free period, so she headed for the library in order to get a head start on, at least, one of her assignments. As she came down a corridor, she spotted James and Sirius peeking around the corner, snickering conspiratorially.

"Do you have them, Padfoot?" whispered James.

"Right here, mate." Sirius pulled something small from his robes and tapped it with his wand. It grew slightly larger, and Jessica saw that it was a red sack filled with something she couldn't see.

"Look at the map and see where he is."

Sirius studied the map. "He's coming, and it would seem that we have ourselves an eavesdropper." He turned his head in the direction that Jessica was hiding. She had all but forgotten about that map. "You wanna help us out, Merton?" he asked. "It looks like McGonagall is coming your way."

Jessica cursed under her breath and stepped back, just as the the Deputy Headmistress came into view. She briefly looked back towards the direction that James and Sirius were located in. Those two owe me, she thought as she hurried towards McGonagall while trying to come up with a lie on the spot in order to distract her.

"Professor, I'm so glad I caught you!" she said, feigning breathlessness. "S-Someone defaced the statue of the one-eyed witch! I th-think they used a special kind of enchanted p-paint. B-Because I c-can't get r-rid of it with Scourgify!"

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about this, Miss. Merton?" she asked skeptically.

Jessica nodded. "I swear, I-I saw it!"

McGonagall studied Jessica for a moment while the Hufflepuff struggled not to do anything that would give her lie away. "Very well, I'll go check it out." She turned on her heels and began walking briskly away. Jessica watched her leave. Sirius turned to where Jessica was hiding and gave her a thumbs up to indicate that she had done good before pulling, what seemed to be, two balloons from the sack. Jessica frowned. Were they about to throw water balloons at someone? It seemed a bit juvenile for them. Jessica stepped away from her hiding place and approached them.

"Water balloons?" Jessica asked with a raised eyebrow.

James rolled his eyes. "Come off it, Jess. Do you really think we'd do something so immature and trivial?"

Coming from someone who magically pelted Snape with erasers last year, I'd say so, Jessica thought.

"Want in on the action?" Sirius offered another balloon to Jessica, who shook her head.

"I'm not really into pranking people."

"You're no fun," Sirius muttered, pretending to pout, before he levitated his own balloon and James followed suit. Just as Snape rounded the corner, the two Marauders sent the balloons flying towards the dark haired Slytherin. Before Snape could react, the balloons struck him in the face. Right away, a grotesque fungus began to sprout up on his face. James and Sirius burst into fits of laughter.

"I hoped he would have swallowed some," Sirius choked out while wheezing. "It's Fungiface Potion."

"Potter, Black!" Snape bellowed, whipping out his wand. "Stop hiding! I know it was you!"

"I don't think he liked it very much." James smirked as Sirius and they readied their wands. "You might want to get out of here, Jessica. We don't want you caught in the middle."

"We'll see you Wednesday after dinner near the Room of Requirement," Sirius added.

Not wanting to remain behind and risk getting hexed, Jessica turned and hurried away, praying that Snape hadn't noticed her and wouldn't come after her next. There was a part of her, which she liked to call her tiny Gryffindor, who wanted to stay behind with James and Sirius, but the more practical part of her knew that she wouldn't stand a chance. Once she was inside the common room, she headed to the seventh year girls' dormitory, which was empty, sat on her bed, and retrieved her diary from the hiding place. She knew it was juvenile to own such an object, but it was the only safe place where she could restore her innermost secrets, thoughts and emotions regarding certain events.

(Line break)

Remus sat in the Gryffindor common room that evening after dinner with a few rolls of parchment before him, and about three textbooks open. James was sitting in one of the chairs, gushing about a prank that Sirius and he had pulled on Snape earlier while Remus was trying to concentrate on his essays.

"You should've seen the look on Snivellus' face, Moony. That fungus was not about to come off easily," James said proudly. "I wish you could've been there!"

Remus looked up from the pile on the floor. "You two could've gotten caught, you know," he chastised, but his lips twitched in amusement. Part of him may not have approved of his friends' antics, but another part of him enjoyed hearing about them making Snape's life a living hell. While he did often scold them, he had never told on them, or did anything to stop them. He was afraid that, if he started doing so, it would be a reason for them to resent him.

"We might've gotten caught if your girlfriend hadn't distracted McGonagall for us. And you know, not many students can actually do that successfully."

Remus sighed. "I really wish you wouldn't involve my girlfriend in your antics."

"Sorry, mate, but she did make the decision on her own. We didn't exactly force her."

Just as Remus was about to protest, the portrait slid open and the two Gryffindors heard the voices of Sirius and Sophia arguing.

"I don't know why you're so mad at me!" Sirius snapped. "You said you don't care who the hell I snog!"

"I thought it was clear to you!" Sophia hissed, her eyes blazing with anger.

"What's clear?" Snape demanded. "You don't tell me anything! You just throw out vague hints that I can't understand!"

"Penelope!" Sophia bellowed. "Why her? What does she have that I don't?"

"She doesn't have anything that you don't! It's not about who's better! I actually think she's a pretty decent person, despite being a Slytherin! Just because you hate her with a passion, doesn't mean I have to! I mean, it's not like I'm going to impregnate her!"

"I hope you're not stupid enough to do something like that!" Sophia spat.

"You're being ridiculous! I don't care who you snog!"

"Of course you don't, because I don't snog guys that I know you hate! I know how it would make you feel, and I actually care! You don't!"

"If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't have stopped the minute you saw me with Penelope and got upset! Think about that!"

Sophia started to present a counterargument, but seemed to change her mind. "Whatever," she muttered as she stomped up the stairs to the girls' dormitories where Sirius couldn't follow. The grey-eyed Gryffindor plopped down next to James and sighed in frustration.

"Sometimes I think that we're better off being friends," Sirius said dejectedly. "I don't know how to get it through her head that I do care about her. I've tried everything!"

"Have you tried actually sitting down and talking with her?" Remus asked, rubbing his temples. A head-ache had formed from listening to Sirius and Sophia's argument.

"Of course I have! But all she seems to want to do is yell at me! I don't know why I put up with it," He folded his arms across his chest huffily.

"Cheer up, mate," James said slapping Sirius heartily on the back. "She'll come around. You just have to give her time to cool down."

"Time to cool down for what?" Lily asked as she came through the portrait hole.

"Nevermind," SIrius muttered.

Lily shrugged. "I probably don't want to know. Anyways, I got this book from the library for Jessica. It features all sorts of defensive spells and detailed descriptions on how to cast them. I figured that when she's not learning from us, she can learn from this book."

"Nice going, Lily," James said in admiration as she sat next to him.

"I know," Lily said smugly. "I'll give it to her tomorrow."

Remus closed his books and sat up, slightly. "Mind if I take a look at the book?" Lily nodded and handed it to him. "I'll look through it and make a list of the spells we'll try and teach her, and have her practice in her spare time." He opened the book and pulled a fresh piece of parchment towards him and began to scribble down the names of a few basic spells that might benefit Jessica.

(Line Break)

The next evening, Jessica came downstairs into the common room after changing out of her robes and into something more casual. About six Hufflepuffs were down in the common room, including Dorcas, Amos, and Trudy. Dorcas looked up when Jessica walked past.

"You about to head to the Room of Requirement?"

Jessica nodded. "Do you want to come with me?"

"No thanks. I need to finish this Potions essay. You might want to start on yours when you get back too."

Jessica grimaced, wishing her friend hadn't reminded her. The essay was due tomorrow, and she hadn't even touched it yet.

"Wait up, Jess," Amos said standing up. "I'll walk you there."

"I can get there fine by myself," Jessica protested.

"Nonsense, I'm just trying to do a fellow Hufflepuff a favor," he said in a friendly tone as he held the entrance open for her.

Jessica hesitated for a moment, before stepping through. "Have you asked Dorcas to Slughorn's Halloween party?" she asked as they walked down the corridors. They weren't exactly breaking any rules since they were still allowed to be out at this time, so Jessica didn't feel as anxious.

"She said she'd go with me, but I think it's mostly out of curiosity. She's never been to one of them before."

"So, she still has no idea that you like her?"

Amos shook his head. "I haven't really had the guts to tell her. It's not as easy as it seems. I have better luck saying it to my reflection."

Jessica chortled. "Don't tell me you actually practice in front of the mirror," she teased.

"Of course I do! Although, I don't know if it helps build my confidence."

"But you're one of the most confident people I know."

"Not when it comes to a girl I like, apparently."

Jessica said a silent prayer that Amos would succeed, and that Dorcas would reciprocate his feelings. They would make such a cute couple. They were both optimistic and cheerful. Not to mention, Amos was one of the nicest guys that Jessica knew.

"There's Remus," Amos said, pulling Jessica away from her thoughts. Sure enough, Remus was standing outside the Room of Requirement. Jessica could have sworn she saw a strange expression pass over his face as she approached with Amos, but it passed so quickly, that she was sure it must have been her imagination.

"Here she is, all safe and sound," Amos said. "Good luck, Jess." He patted her on the shoulder, then turned and headed back to the Hufflepuff common room.

"You ready?" Remus asked.

Jessica hesitated, so many thoughts running through her head. What if this was a mistake? What if she was unable to successfully do this? What would happen if she had to put these spells into practice against those who tormented her? Would she clam up again?

"Jessica?"

She pushed away the thoughts as an expression of determination crossed her face and she nodded. "As I'll ever be."

Remus smiled and, after thrice walking past the wall, the door appeared, and the two of them stepped inside.


	12. Chapter 12: Jessica's First Lesson

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* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **Jessica's First Lesson**

Inside the Room of Requirement were many tools used to aide in the improvement of offensive and defensive magic, including practice dummies, bookshelves lining the walls filled with spellbooks, from the most basic spells to the most advanced. Jessica glanced at James, Lily, Sirius, Sophia, and Peter, surprised that they were all here. She thought it would have been just James and Sirius. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her wand, tightly gripping the smooth Larch handle, and smiled nervously at them.

"Try to relax," Remus said soothingly, rubbing her back gently.

"Er...right." Jessica relaxed her shoulders and took a deep breath. "Um...what spell will you try to teach me first?"

James, ever the ring leader, stepped forward. "The spell we're going to teach you is known as the most basic of Shield Charms, Protego. You always seem to do well on the written portions of exams, I assume you know what it does?"

Jessica nodded. "It creates a shield that deflects certain spells in order to protect the person or an area."

"Right," Lily said, very impressed. "Now, obviously, this spell can't protect against The Unforgivable Curses, but, if used correctly, if can still shield you from some nasty hexes."

"The shield is also invisible, and only reveals itself when a spell bounces off of it," Sirius added.

"So, then how would I know when I've cast it correctly?" Jessica asked. "Are you all going to throw jinxes at me and hope I deflect them? Because, I'm not sure about that."

Sophia laughed. "It really is the only way you'll learn. Did you think you were going to be blocking thin air?"

Jessica huffed. That's exactly what she hoped she would be doing. "We'll take it easy on you with a very minor knockback jinx that is guaranteed to only knock you on your ass," Remus said reassuringly.

That didn't seem so bad. How hard could it be to deflect a minor knockback jinx? Then again, she was rubbish at defensive spells, so this would be much harder than she thought, especially with them watching her and, most likely, criticizing her every move.

"Remus will demonstrate the correct wand movements," Sirius said as he pulled his wand from his pocket.

Jessica realized what was about to happen and stepped in between them. "No way are you going to jinx my boyfriend!" she cried protectively.

Everyone laughed, and Sirius smirked. "So, you do have some claws. Don't worry, your precious Remus will be fine. He's as good at this as the rest of us."

Jessica relaxed, but still glared at Sirius as she stepped back. Remus winked at her then turned to his grey-eyed friend. "Ready when you are, Padfoot." Jessica hesitated for a moment, then stepped back to give Sirius a clear shot. She stood beside Lily, biting down on her thumbnail, anxiously.

"Flipendo!" A blue jet of light was released from Sirius' wand, aimed at Remus, who moved his wand into a vertical position as he yelled, "Protego!" The shield became visible in the form of a bright blue light as the Knockback Jinx dissipated upon touching it. Sirius cast the jinx two more times, to which Remus deflected with the Shield Charm. The second time, it ricocheted and hit a wall, but as the room was enchanted to withstand damage, it merely dissipated. The third time the spell bounced off the shield and rebounded back toward Sirius, who cast the Shield charm in order to prevent himself from being hit.

The two wizards lowered their wands and moved out of their combative positions. Remus turned to Jessica, who had been watching the demonstration with bulging eyes. How was she supposed to measure up to them? Despite it being one of the most basic defensive spells, it looked complex. How did they expect her to master it?

"Do you think you might be able to cast it for yourself?" Remus asked.

No, I most certainly do not! Jessica's thoughts shrieked, but out loud, she said, "I think so." But without much enthusiasm.

"Right." Remus crossed the room and stood a few feet in front of her. "Wand at the ready. Just try and imitate what I did a minute ago, and relax."

Jessica nodded and lifted her wand, mentally preparing herself and took a deep breath. "I'm ready."

Remus aimed his wand at her and shouted, "Flipendo!" Jessica hesitated as the jet of blue light streamed towards her. "Pro-" However, because she didn't react in time, the jinx hit her, knocking her onto her rear end. She stood up, rubbing the offending area.

"You hesitated," Sophia said. "You have to learn to react quickly. Even a moment's hesitation could mean the difference between life and death."

Jessica scowled at her dark haired friend. "I know, but it's hard when it's Remus! I don't want the spell to bounce off and hit him!"

"Just pretend he's someone you hate," Peter suggested. "Like Snape or Rosier."

"Yes!" James agreed. "Okay, picture this in your head. You're walking down the corridor on your way to the library, or wherever. But, as you come around the corner, Snape is there! The only way you can get past is through him. What do you do?"

"Er...turn around and find another way to the library as there are secret passageways?"

James slapped his palm to his face. "Just pretend that there are no secret passages. You have to go through him. He decides that taunting you isn't enough, and wants to try and physically hurt you with a hex. What would you do?"

Just run the other way and pray that he trips over his own two feet as he tries to chase me? "Protect myself with the Shield Charm and hope it distracts him long enough for me to get past?"

James nodded. "Yes, now just use that image. Are you ready, now?"

"I think so, but Remus looks nothing like Snape. He's way too good looking!"

Sirius gave a bark-like laugh. "Did you hear that, Moony? Your girlfriend thinks you're hot stuff."

Jessica blushed furiously. She had managed to walk into that one quite easily, as she always did when she was around Sirius. Remus smirked and lowered his wand. "I think I have an idea. Sirius, change places with me."

Sirius looked at Remus incredulously. "Why me?"

"Because you resemble Snape more closely with your long black hair than I do!"

Sirius snorted, but did as he was told. As Remus walked past Jessica, he stopped to whisper into her ear. "I think it's about time you got even with all those times he's teased you." Then, out loud, he said, "Right, just pretend he's Snape."

Jessica turned to face Sirius as images of many memories ran through her mind: the pranks that Sirius would play on her during their earlier years at Hogwarts, the way Snape constantly tormented her, making her feel less worthy than she really was, Sirius' unending streams of teasing, which made her uncomfortable, Snape cornering her in the library during the first week of term. Determination blazed in her deep blue eyes as she lifted her wand once again.

Sirius cast the Knockback Jinx. This time, Jessica managed to react. "Protego!" The shield lit up briefly as the spell hit it, but then broke as it was too weak and knocked Jessica to the ground again. Sirius stepped forward and offered his hand, which she took and allowed him to help her stand. "Not bad at all. Let's try again, and this time try and exude a bit more confidence."

She nodded and turned to the others, who smiled encouragingly before facing Sirius once again. This time, the shield trembled slightly, but held as the jinx bounced off of it and hit the wall. Jessica grinned widely, proud of herself. "I did it! Did you see that, Remus? I actually cast the Shield Charm!"

Remus laughed and hugged her, enveloping her with his warmth and comforting scent. "See? You just needed to have a small bit of confidence in yourself."

* * *

Jessica could have danced with joy, but she held her composure. She practiced the shield charm for another half hour, before James decided it was time for them to stop for the evening.

"We'll meet once a week and on the weekends," he said as he took a large tome from Lily and presented it to Jessica. "If I were you, I'd practice the Shield Charm in my spare time. Maybe you could get one of your fellow Hufflepuffs to help you out. Also, this is a book filled with many defensive and offensive spells with detailed descriptions as to what each spell does and even illustrations of the wand movements used in each one.

"Thank you," Jessica said shyly as she took the heavy tome, looking down at the simple brown cover.

They each departed and went their separate ways. Remus, however, remained with Jessica as they now stood outside of the Room of Requirement. The two of them found a place to sit, in front of a large window that overlooked the lake. Jessica set the book in her lap and opened it. As she did, a folded piece of parchment fell out and landed on the ground. Remus knelt down to pick it up.

"I actually made a list off spells that I think would benefit you." he said, handing the list to Jessica, who perused it. "Most of them are pretty basic, but I threw in a few intermediate and advanced spells in there, too."

"So, I take it that I should start with the basic spells first, and try to master them, before I move on to the next level?"

Remus nodded. "I think that would be your best bet. You managed to cast Protego fairly successfully. You just need to put in a bit of practice so that the shield remains steady, but I don't think it would take you too long to master the basics."

Jessica stuck the piece of parchment back in between the pages and closed the book. "I just hope that I get into a position where I have to use these spells on anyone," she muttered.

"So do I, but there may come a time when you have to defend yourself and fight back. There are many wizards and witches out there who just won't let you run away."

Jessica looked down at her pink shoelaces as she drew her knees up to her chest. She prayed that if she ever did find herself cornered and couldn't run away, that she would have the courage to use what she had learned. Remus seemed to sense her uncertainty, for he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder as he reassured her. After remaining like that for a little while, they decided that it was best if they headed back to their respective common rooms, for they both had homework to finish.

* * *

Once Remus had seen Jessica to her common room, he turned and began making the long journey all the way to the Gryffindor Tower. As he came to the fifth floor, he heard some whimpering, and saw Rosier and Dolohov standing over a first year Ravenclaw with their wands drawn. The young girl cowered in the corner and whimpered.

"We really don't like Mudbloods like you in our school," Rosier said, advancing towards the girl as ropes shot from his wand, binding her and preventing her from escaping.

"The wizarding world must be purged of your kind," Dolohov added threateningly, bringing his wand down onto the girl. Flames shot out, catching the girl's robes on fire.

Remus reacted quickly. A jet of water shot from the tip of his wand, putting out the girl's robes. Dolohov and Rosier each threw stunning spells at him, but he reacted with a powerful Shield Charm, which bounced back and hit the two of them squarely in the chest, knocking them unconscious. With the two Slytherins out of commission temporarily, Remus approached the girl, who cowered against the wall. She had a few minor burns from where the flames had touched her skin, but they were only first degree, and Remus was sure Madame Pomfrey would be able to fix her up.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Remus said reassuringly as he knelt down and smiled warmly at the girl as he flicked his wand again, causing the ropes to disappear. "What's your name?"

"Lila Mendez," she said.

"I'm Remus. Why don't we get you to the Hospital Wing and have Madame Pomfrey look at you?" He offered his hand to her. She hesitated for a moment before taking it and standing up.

"I don't know why they did it," she said, sniffling, as a few tears streamed down her cheeks.

"There are some witches and wizards in this world who think that only the purest of wizarding blood is worthy. But they're just bigoted assholes...Er...pardon my language."

"It really hurts."

Remus patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Madame Pomfrey will fix you right up." To keep her mind off the pain, he asked her questions as they walked, mostly about how she liked her classes, and how she liked the school so far. Just from their short walk, he found out that her favorite class was Charms, and her favorite teacher was Professor Flitwick. He also found out that she had a two year old brother, whom she didn't like because he was annoying and always got into her things. They finally came to the Hospital Wing.

"What happened?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she took a good look at Lila.

"She was attacked by Evan Rosier and Antonin Dolohov," Remus said grimly. "I managed to stop them before they could really hurt her, but she has a few burns."

"She's lucky you were there at the right time," Madame Pomfrey said in an impressed tone of voice. "I think a burn-healing paste might do the trick. They don't look too serious. Why don't you stay here and walk her back when I'm finished?"

Remus rubbed the back of his neck. "Er...all right." He sat down in one of the chairs and smiled at Lila, who seemed to blush furiously, before smiling back. She kept stealing glances at him as Madame Pomfrey spread the orange paste on her burns. All the while, Remus thought bitterly about what happened. Taunting Muggle-borns and half-bloods were bad enough, but to actually attack them, especially first years, was a different story altogether. Remus knew that the others would want to hear about it. But, maybe, he should go to Dumbledore first, as well.


	13. Chapter 13: Would Rather Be Spider Food

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* * *

 **Chapter 13**

 **I Would Rather Be Spider Food**

Remus stood in front of the stone gargoyle that blocked the entrance to Dumbledore's office, mentally kicking himself. With his thoughts solely on what had happened to Lila, he had forgotten that he would need a password in order to see Dumbledore. Having no other choice, Remus turned and began to walk away, hoping that he would find a teacher who might know the password. He felt that Dumbledore needed to know what happened, and was determined to tell him.

"Mr. Lupin?" a voice stopped Remus in his tracks, and he turned around to face, or rather, look down at, Professor Flitwick.

"Professor." Remus greeted him politely, silently thanking both God and Merlin. "I was wondering if you knew the password to Dum-I mean Professor Dumbledore's office. It's an emergency and I need to see him."

"I do know it, but it won't do you any good, now. Professor Dumbledore isn't here."

Remus' expression fell. "Not here? Where is he?"

"I'm afraid I cannot divulge that information. Why do you need to see him?"

Remus briefly toyed with the hem of his argyle sweater-vest, nervously. Should he tell Flitwick? Or should he, perhaps, wait until Dumbledore returned? Maybe Flitwick would relay the message back to the Headmaster.

"It's Dolohov and Rosier, sir. I witnessed them attacking a first year, Lila Mendez. She's in Ravenclaw."

Flitwick studied Remus. Unlike McGonagall, the Charms teacher did not have the stern aura that the Transfiguration teacher possessed. "What proof do you have of this?" he asked.

"Proof? They attacked Lila, just ask her!" Realizing that he was yelling at a teacher, Remus spoke more quietly. "They could have really hurt her."

"I believe you. You've always been honest before. If it is indeed true, then I think that an owl to Dumbledore is in order. Merlin knows he should be informed of this, especially if there is a chance of there being some of them on the inside. There needs to be solid proof. Where are Mr. Dolohov and Mr. Rosier?"

"I'm not sure." Remus knew he could check the map when he got back to the common room. After he had seen Lila safely back to the Ravenclaw Tower, he'd reversed the Stunning Spell on the two of them, then had quickly disappeared before they could realize he was there, for he didn't want to get into another confrontation with them. One a day was enough for him. "Professor, what do you mean by 'some of them'?"

Flitwick shook his head. "Never mind, Mr. Lupin. Off to bed with you."

Remus turned hesitantly and began walking back to the Gryffindor common room, thoroughly confused now. Did Flitwick know something about Dumbledore's whereabouts? Who were 'they'? If there was one thing Remus hated, it was when someone spoke nonsensical cryptic jargon. Why couldn't Flitwick just be straightforward with him? And why would he not reveal Dumbledore's location? Thoroughly frustrated, he muttered the password and climbed through the portrait hole, and into the Gryffindor common room.

James, Peter, and Lily were in there, along with a few other Gryffindors, including Marlene and two of her friends, who were twins named Charlotte and Natalie. Lily was helping a first year with his Charms homework. Sirius and Sophia were nowhere to be found. Remus assumed that they were most likely in their respective dormitories, still mad at each other. Or rather, Sophia was still mad at Sirius.

"I need to talk to you guys," he said as he sat down in an empty chair.

James stopped transfiguring the flames into different colors and lowered his wand. "What happened, Moony?"

"Er..." Remus looked at the first year who Lily was helping, feeling that this was not meant for his ears. Also, Remus didn't want to frighten him. James followed Remus' gaze.

"Why don't we talk upstairs?" James nodded towards the boys' dormitory. The three Marauders, and Lily, who also seemed curious, walked upstairs. As they came to the door, and peeked inside in unison with their chins atop each other's heads. (It sounds funnier in my head.) In one of the beds was Sirius and Sophia, who appeared to be engrossed in a very heavy snogging session.

"What the..." Remus pushed the door open. The two of them immediately stopped and sat up. Sophia's hair definitely rivaled Jessica's right now in turns of unruliness.

"I thought you two were mad at each other." Lily frowned in confusion.

Sophia slipped her top on and began buttoning it. "I'm not mad enough to not snog him." She ran her fingers through her tresses, attempting to straighten them.

"I don't get it." Remus scratched his head. "First you two are fighting, then you're snogging. I don't understand your relationship at all."

Sirius winked. "Don't be jealous Remy," he smirked. "There's room on this bed for you too. You know the ladies would love to see some Remus-Sirius action."

Remus made a face. "I'm really flattered," he muttered in a dry tone. It wasn't the first time that Sirius had made a gay joke. "But I really need to talk about something serious."

Believe it or not, Sirius knew when it was time to stop messing around, especially when it came to his friends. He sat up after having slipped on his shirt, but left it unbuttoned and ran his fingers through his tousseled hair. "What's going on, Moony?"

Remus leaned against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. James, Lily, and Peter sat on one of the other beds. Once they were all comfortable, Remus told them what had happened.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sirius said after Remus was finished. "Dolohov and Rosier attacked this girl just because she was a muggle-born?"

Remus nodded. "They said that she didn't belong in this school for that reason."

"This is really getting serious," Lily said. "They could've really hurt her if you hadn't come along."

"We should really tell Dumbledore," James said, his eyes flashing with anger. "If they tried to hurt one muggle-born, chances are they'll attempt to hurt many more. Who knows, they might try to hurt half-bloods next."

"Dumbledore isn't here," Remus said with a sigh. "There's no telling when he'll return, and Flitwick wouldn't give me any straight answers as to his whereabouts, either."

"It's disgusting, the way they attack someone much weaker than them. It only proves what cowards they are. I doubt they'd be as cocky as to go after one of us in a full frontal assault," Sophia spat angrily.

Remus nodded in agreement, but in the back of his mind, he was thinking about Jessica. What if they decided to attack her at one point? Would she be able to defend herself? Or would she freeze up like she always mentioned she was afraid of doing? He shook his head. No, he had to believe that she could take care of herself if it was a matter of survival. After all, sometimes the will to survive often outweighed a person's most intense fears.

* * *

"So, Lupin managed to stop you, did he?" Snape asked in his usual cold monotone voice as he looked up from the thick book he was reading.

"Unfortunately," Dolohov said. "Evan and I tried stunning him, but the spell bounced off of his shield and hit us both."

"Sorry to say that the girl only got away with a few minor burns," Rosier added.

Snape slammed his book and threw it down onto the floor in disgust. "I'm sorry, too, for now, Lupin will have told someone. You two should have immobilized her and taken her somewhere hidden where you couldn't be seen, but you decided to do it out in the open."

"We didn't think anyone would still be out and about! There was no one down the corridor when we cornered her!" Dolohov argued before smirking in realization. "You're afraid that Lupin will tell his two blood traitor friends, aren't you?"

"I've never been afraid of those sods! No, the person we should really worry about is Dumbledore. If he finds out, then the entire plan will be ruined!"

"But the only proof he has is the girl! Maybe she'll be too afraid to talk!" Rosier protested.

"We don't know that!" Snape hissed furiously before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, struggling not to let his temper get the best of him.

"Couldn't we erase that portion of her memory?" Dolohov suggested.

Snape shook his head. "There might be a chance that someone already knows. It wouldn't do us any good, now. You two will have to be more discreet next time."

"What are you doing in the meantime?" Rosier demanded.

Snape narrowed his dark eyes at the Slytherin. "You know that Rodolphus gave me the task of recruiting. I'm doing my job to the best of my ability. Why can't you two do the same?"

"We only messed up one time!" Dolohov cried.

"Sometimes, one time is all it takes," Snape reminded him as he knelt down to pick up his book and brushed it off.

* * *

Throughout Snape, Dolohov, and Rosier's conversation, another person was listening in very closely. Penelope had been busy sitting at a small table, which held a wizarding radio, pretending to work on her Defense Against The Dark Arts essay while she heard every word that they said. While her parents were not among Voldemort's followers, they believed that he had the right idea in that the wizarding world should be purged of half-bloods, Muggle-borns, and blood traitors. These three were the type of people her parents wanted her to become friends with. She grimaced in disgust, and would rather suffer the worst torture imaginable than join them.

She finished her essay, then headed to the seventh year girls' dormitory. Her fellow seventh year females were there, as well. Some of them were already asleep, their emerald green curtains drawn around their beds. Dawn, one of Penelope's friends, was still awake, but in the process of getting dressed for bed.

"I can't understand how Snape and his friends could be so bigoted to the point where they would start attacking students just because of their blood status." Penelope plopped down onto her bed.

Dawn straightened up, pulling a large t-shirt over her head, and moving her thick ginger hair out of the way in the process. "Why are you surprised? You know what they're like."

"I never said I was surprised." She stood up from her bed to put her pajamas on. "I just hate the fact that it's people like them that give Slytherin its bad reputation. Not all of us are bigoted sods who believe that the only worthy wizard is a pure-blood."

"So, I take it you would never join them?"

Penelope grimaced in disgust, her wand gave off angry red sparks as she gripped it tightly in her right hand. "I would rather be spider food for the Acromantulas than join them," she said bitterly as she sat down again and stashed her wand underneath her pillow and lay back, preparing to go to sleep. "What about you?" She grew worried when Dawn hesitated for a moment before answering. "No way."

Dawn's parents were also blood purists. Penelope and she hadn't really started hanging out until around their fifth year. Before that, Dawn had dated Dolohov briefly, but they had broken up. Dawn had claimed it was because of their differing beliefs. Still, sometimes Penelope wondered just what was going through her friend's head. She started to ask her, but decided against it, not wanting to create any conflicts between the two of them, turned on her side, and fell asleep.

* * *

By the end of October, Jessica had managed to master The Shield Charm, along with a few other defensive spells, such as Impedimenta, the Stickfast Hex known as Colloshoo, the Conjunctivitis Curse, and the Smoke-screen Spell. When she wasn't practicing in the Room of Requirement with Remus and his friends, she was practicing with Amos and Dorcas, who were more than willing to help her.

That afternoon after class, Jessica and Amos sat near the lake across from each other with the spellbook open between them. She was attempting the spell Levicorpus, but wasn't having much luck with it. Finally, Amos suggested that she take a break, and Jessica agreed. She leaned back against the palms of her hands with her legs out straight in front of her.

"I don't know why I can't get it. I'm performing the right wand movements and even picturing it in my head. This is why I hate non-verbal spells."

"Don't worry about it too much and stop trying too hard," Amos said casually as he lay back on the grass, propping his hands behind his head.

"I'm a Hufflepuff, it's in my nature. We're unafraid to toil, remember?"

"That doesn't mean you have to stress yourself out over it. Just let it come to you."

Jessica looked towards the lake. "Maybe. It's just that I've managed to master some of the other spells quite easily, but this one stumps me."

"Maybe you need an incentive, like pretending one of your friends is someone you hate," Amos opened his left eye and grinned at her teasingly.

Jessica laughed dryly. "I think I should give Sirius a break. He's been my guinea pig this whole time. I'm not sure he would appreciate me magically dangling him by his ankles while pretending that he's Snape." James had told her what the spell did, so that was why she knew its effects. Not wanting to talk about her failures anymore, right now, she chose to talk about something else.

"What time is Slughorn's Halloween Dinner?" she asked curiously as she played with a blade of grass.

"It's not for another few hours. It doesn't start until around seven. I have plenty of time," Amos replied.

Jessica was happy when she heard that Dorcas had agreed to go. There was even a second Hogsmeade Trip last week where she had accompanied Dorcas to the robes shop in order to help her find some dress robes to wear.

"Did anyone invite you?" Amos asked as he sat up and brushed a few blades of grass from his hair.

"No, but it's all right, though. I heard the dinners are pretty dull."

Amos chuckled. "They definitely are, but the food is really good, plus Slughorn always has some interesting stories to tell."

After talking for a little while longer, Jessica tried (and failed) to perform the Levicorpus spell again along with a few other spells that seemed to stump her. By the time they decided to call it quits, the sun had begun to set over the horizon. The two Hufflpuffs had a few grass stains on their clothes as they walked back to the castle, going their separate ways. Amos went to get ready for Slughorn's dinner and Jessica went to the Great Hall.


End file.
